Reading Your Interview Answers? We’ll Notice, And It’s a Dealbreaker

Let’s be honest: remote interviews can be nerve-wracking. It’s tempting to script your responses or use tools to “polish” your story. But here’s the truth: nothing raises red flags faster than answers that sound robotic, rehearsed, or worse: written by someone (or something) else.

We recently interviewed a candidate for a Salesforce consulting role. On paper, they had strong experience. But during the call, something felt off.

We asked a straightforward question:
“What’s your current tech stack?”

Instead of a clear, direct answer, the candidate launched into a long explanation of a past project. It didn’t really match the question, and the delivery felt unusually smooth. Like, too smooth.

So we dug deeper.

With each follow-up, the same pattern emerged:

• Vague statements upfront
  
• Followed by overly polished phrasing
  
• No natural pauses, no conversational tone, no improvisation
  

We realized the candidate was likely reading pre-written answers, possibly generated by AI, possibly just overly scripted. Either way, it was clear they weren’t speaking from lived experience.

Here’s the problem with that approach:
If you can’t confidently talk about the work you’ve done, how can we trust that it was actually you who did it? More importantly, how can we trust that you can do it again, without a script?

We’re not looking for perfect. We’re looking for real.

If you’re preparing for a technical or consulting interview, keep these things in mind:

• It’s okay to be nervous. It’s not okay to fake your knowledge.
  
• If you use notes, make sure they’re supporting you, not replacing you.
  
• Speak from your own experience, even if you need a moment to think.
  
• If you’ve used tools like ChatGPT to prepare, great. But make sure you understand and own every answer.
  

At the end of the day, we’d rather hire someone who’s slightly unpolished but genuinely skilled, than someone who delivers perfect answers that feel copied and pasted.

If you can’t explain your own work in your own words, it’s not really your work.

Want to stand out in your next interview? Focus on preparation, not performance. Practice telling your story in a way that’s honest, specific, and most of all: yours.