Stop saying "we" in interviews
Before we begin:
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https://getvibeprep.com/
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In This Issue
The debrief that sank a candidate I knew was qualified
What a hiring manager actually hears when you say “we”
Why “we” is the most expensive word in your interview vocabulary
The bench problem, and why “we won” tells nobody anything
How to find the “I” buried inside every “we”
When “we” is the right call, and how not to sound like a liar
A 10-minute drill to run before your next interview
Last month I put a backend engineer in front of a VP at a bank. Let’s call him Devin.
He was a strong SWE with a good financial services background.
I knew he was an automatic interview once I got on the phone with him and sent him to the client.
He didn’t get the offer.
Not because he wasn’t qualified. He lost it on language. And I want to walk you through exactly how, because I see this kill candidates every week and almost nobody catches it in time.
The Debrief That Told Me Everything
I called the VP the morning after the panel.
I’ve made this call a few thousand times over ten years, and I can usually tell in the first ten seconds whether I’m getting an offer or a polite no.
This one was a no, and the reason she gave me was the one I dread.
“He seems smart,” she said. “I just couldn’t tell what he actually did.”
