Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by simongr3dal 3 days ago
Lots of people have a hard time just freebasing in an abstract conversation about how they work and storytelling “My Journey” type stuff but work just fine in an actual team setting with concrete products, features, and problems to think and talk about.
1 comments

> storytelling “My Journey” type stuff

This is the stuff with which I struggle the most. I'm an introvert, and "my journey" sounds so insufferable and egotistical to me, I physically cringe at the thought of having to talk about this kind of stuff.

At the end of the day, I just want a paycheck and to work on at least marginally interesting problems. I'm not interested in having to lie about how passionate I am about what company X is doing, nor am I a salesperson that feels comfortable hyping myself up. It feels so fake it becomes a distraction during the interview, which causes me to freeze up and start floundering.

I work hard and I take pride in what I produce, I have plenty of hobbies and get along with others well, and I thrive in environments where I get to mentor and be mentored by others. These are the soft skills that are actually important for working on a team, but they're the most difficult to convey in the traditional interview format.