The biggest mistake I made when breaking into tech was being dishonest about my skills.
I spent a few hours learning React, so I deemed my proficiency good enough to list on my CV. While I could not build a website in React.
I found out this technique was a huge waste of time. Here’s why:
Lying on your CV leads to 3 scenarios, and they all end with your time being wasted
Expect to be challenged on every technology listed on your CV.
Here is a list of scenarios that can happen if you lie:
Scenario 1 — The employer catches you out in the interview
You will get rejected for the job, and you have wasted everyone’s time.
If you continue to lie on your CV, you will continue to get rejected for interviews.
The only person you are deceiving is yourself.
Scenario 2 — You convince the interviewer of your ability, but once the job starts, your whole team sees your inexperience
Your imposter syndrome will be at an all-time high.
That’s because you will be an imposter. Bad morale will occur in your team and could lead to your dismissal for lying in your interview.
Lying sets unrealistic expectations.
Scenario 3 — You convince the interviewer of your ability because the interviewer does not know what they’re looking for
This is the worst one as you are signing up for a terrible job.
The role will either have nothing to do with programming, or they will expect you to manage the whole technical side of the company.
Lying leads to bad scenarios.
Here’s why honesty will set you on the right career
Lying gets you more job interviews.
Being honest lands you job interviews that are right for you.
You immediately weed out employers who are not a good fit
An employer who needs a C# developer will not employ someone with no C# experience.
By making it clear from the start, you will not waste time preparing for an interview that will ultimately lead to rejection.
Interested employers will set training plans for your weaknesses
You will get the training you need.
If you are clear that you have no experience with databases. The employer can co-ordinate training for you to learn databases.
Without this honesty, your weakness in databases will never be treated, and it could set you up for failure in the future.
You set clear expectations to the employer
If you are honest with an employer with your lack of experience in an area, they will not expect you to be proficient straight away.
The employer will be more forgiving of mistakes.
If you lie, they will expect you to make progress right away.
