this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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Update: Thanks for all the advice! The interview went really well! At the end, the department chair said he was going to talk to the Deans. Now all I can do is wait. Thanks again!

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Honesty is usually the right move for most interviews. People usually try to put their best foot forward, which is good, but it can end up coming across as inauthentic.

If, for example, you are a fresh graduate, and you get an interview, they expect you to be inexperienced. If you claim to know how to use every program and do every technical process, they will know you are bluffing. It's much better to say "I've taken a bunch of classes on X programming language, so I know it pretty well, but ive done some tutorials and little projects with Y and Z, and I'm eager to learn more" or "I've done some labs where we used A and B machines, but I had a summer internship where 90% of my days were spent working with C".

Also, questions like "why do you want to work here?" can be answered with "my significant other got a job in this town, so now I need to as well" (obviously not in those exact words). To you, it might seem like you aren't acting "excited" by the company enough, but the people interviewing you likely aren't drinkers of corporate kool-aid any more than you are, so they will appreciate the honesty. Also, the fact that you have a reason to move to that town shows that you are likely to be willing to work there for the long haul.

Tl;dr, don't pretend to be a unicorn cause you probably aren't, and people don't expect you to be. Just make sure you show that you are serious about wanting the job.