Avoid Negative Words and Phrases in Job Interviews
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
A post on LinkedIn said, “Negative words and phrases can undermine your confidence and credibility in an interview. They can also make you sound unsure, defensive, or pessimistic. Avoid words and phrases that minimize your achievements, such as “only”, “just”, “a bit”, or “kind of”. Avoid words and phrases that imply doubt, hesitation, or weakness, such as “maybe”, “I think”, “I hope”, or “I guess”. Avoid words and phrases that convey negativity, criticism, or blame, such as “no”, “not”, “can’t”, “won’t”, or “but”.
I replied, “There are several dirty words to never use in an interview. Only as in “I’ve only done this or that.” The second is just as in “I’ve just done this.” A third is light as in I have light experience with . . .” These words signal a lack of confidence in your ability to answer questions on the subject they are asking you about and they should move on to another topic. Tell people what you know and what you’ve done. If it’s sufficient, great! If it isn’t, that’s ok, too. Only, light and just are meaningless words that offer no clarity to an interviewer and signal your lack of confidence.”
On review, the original was pretty good.
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