I’m writing my CV now and was wondering whether I should indeed be “as confident as possible” (which basically means, according to some people, that I’m limited to sentences that don’t even contain words like “but”, “mostly”, “although” etc.). Overconfidence is a killer of rationality, and displaying it might signal that you’re irrational. I would personally trust much more someone who actively doubts in many things he says, rather than someone who is always confident. However, some people say the opposite.
I was wondering how should I approach my CV? Would it attract more rational employers if it’s more self-skeptical? I’m not going to take it to a degree where it’s as self-skeptical as I usually get when I give my honest advice on something (pointing out as many assumptions and dependencies on sources of information as possible, and sounding like nobody else I know, based on a very quick search). But still wondering whether this would get me a more irrational employer, and would some of you actually trust more someone who sounds confident.
Why do you think so? I would personally like more people who are actively talking about their good and bad sides, although I’m not sure if I’d do that in an interview, because it might mean they don’t know what appears to be the most effective strategy.
I think, just like you have been recommended to assume the person conducting the interview is not rational, that person has as a default you are not rational. To expand: in general someone filling a job position will have many applicants. They will go through a negative search procedure: looking for ways to quickly discard applications. Since most applicants are overconfident, sounding less confident means you are perhaps less skilled than the overconfident applicants. Furthermore, employees who are confident about their deadlines (and meet them of course) are most valued. To rephrase colloquially: if you aren’t confident about your skills/accomplishments/whatever, why should the person making the hiring decision be confident in them, when they know less about you than you do?
As a first approximation, assume everyone you’re dealing with is default-level irrational and incapable of recognizing or appreciating rationality. This is true > 98% of the time.
Also be aware that even a rationalist in a hiring situation might just interpret your “self skepticism” as attempted tribal-affilation signalling. They are hiring, not looking for beer buddies. Very different thought process.
I’ve heard that cover letters are not very popular these days, some people are doing away with them and viewing them as just another thing that can get you rejected.
Before you put a lot of effort into this, you might want to check around and see if anyone even wants cover letters anymore. I know at least one significant company that does not even accept them.
I’m talking about personal statement. Not sure if this is the same as cover letter, but I do know that they require it. And it appears that mine is going to significantly increase the overall quality of the CV.
I’m writing my CV now and was wondering whether I should indeed be “as confident as possible” (which basically means, according to some people, that I’m limited to sentences that don’t even contain words like “but”, “mostly”, “although” etc.). Overconfidence is a killer of rationality, and displaying it might signal that you’re irrational. I would personally trust much more someone who actively doubts in many things he says, rather than someone who is always confident. However, some people say the opposite.
I was wondering how should I approach my CV? Would it attract more rational employers if it’s more self-skeptical? I’m not going to take it to a degree where it’s as self-skeptical as I usually get when I give my honest advice on something (pointing out as many assumptions and dependencies on sources of information as possible, and sounding like nobody else I know, based on a very quick search). But still wondering whether this would get me a more irrational employer, and would some of you actually trust more someone who sounds confident.
Yes you should be as confident as possible.
In interview, you can admit that you used to have flaws, which you identified and corrected, but this is as close as you can get.
Why do you think so? I would personally like more people who are actively talking about their good and bad sides, although I’m not sure if I’d do that in an interview, because it might mean they don’t know what appears to be the most effective strategy.
I don’t know man, but that weird habit of humans drives me up a friggin wall.
I think, just like you have been recommended to assume the person conducting the interview is not rational, that person has as a default you are not rational. To expand: in general someone filling a job position will have many applicants. They will go through a negative search procedure: looking for ways to quickly discard applications. Since most applicants are overconfident, sounding less confident means you are perhaps less skilled than the overconfident applicants. Furthermore, employees who are confident about their deadlines (and meet them of course) are most valued. To rephrase colloquially: if you aren’t confident about your skills/accomplishments/whatever, why should the person making the hiring decision be confident in them, when they know less about you than you do?
As a first approximation, assume everyone you’re dealing with is default-level irrational and incapable of recognizing or appreciating rationality. This is true > 98% of the time.
Also be aware that even a rationalist in a hiring situation might just interpret your “self skepticism” as attempted tribal-affilation signalling. They are hiring, not looking for beer buddies. Very different thought process.
I’ve heard that cover letters are not very popular these days, some people are doing away with them and viewing them as just another thing that can get you rejected.
Before you put a lot of effort into this, you might want to check around and see if anyone even wants cover letters anymore. I know at least one significant company that does not even accept them.
I’m talking about personal statement. Not sure if this is the same as cover letter, but I do know that they require it. And it appears that mine is going to significantly increase the overall quality of the CV.