I think the framing of 3 types of confidence is helpful but I think displayed confidence is something else entirely.
In the context of a job interview, the interviewee’s displayed confidence is often used (at least subconsciously) by the interviewer as a proxy for their competence. If I am up against a less competent individual who displays greater confidence (whether real or pretended) then in displaying my true level of confidence I am giving a signal to the interviewer that I am less competent than the other person.
Therefore I must pretend that I am more confident than I am, otherwise I lose out.
Understood. It might indeed be useful instrumentally. That being said, I’m not sure how I would be able to display a different confidence level than I felt without lying (I don’t lie). Is it something you say, or is it just your posture etc? Or is there something else?
I think it’s mainly a matter of what I choose to focus on.
I won’t volunteer information on my confidence level and generally won’t be asked. In answering questions I will emphasize all the parts of the role I can do and what I’ve done in the past. I won’t volunteer the fact that I am not confident in a particular area as this would raise a huge unnecessary red flag for the interviewer. If I think I am below average at a certain skill I will say that I can do it (in a confident manner!), give what examples I can and leave it at that. This is true but doesn’t tell the interviewer the whole story.
A smart interviewer will dig down into the specifics and will ask more specific questions, meaning that you have to tackle your weak areas. In that case I will feel free to be more open as I will be more confident in the interviewer’s ability to accurately assess myself and the other candidates.
I think the framing of 3 types of confidence is helpful but I think displayed confidence is something else entirely.
In the context of a job interview, the interviewee’s displayed confidence is often used (at least subconsciously) by the interviewer as a proxy for their competence. If I am up against a less competent individual who displays greater confidence (whether real or pretended) then in displaying my true level of confidence I am giving a signal to the interviewer that I am less competent than the other person.
Therefore I must pretend that I am more confident than I am, otherwise I lose out.
Understood. It might indeed be useful instrumentally. That being said, I’m not sure how I would be able to display a different confidence level than I felt without lying (I don’t lie). Is it something you say, or is it just your posture etc? Or is there something else?
I think it’s mainly a matter of what I choose to focus on.
I won’t volunteer information on my confidence level and generally won’t be asked. In answering questions I will emphasize all the parts of the role I can do and what I’ve done in the past. I won’t volunteer the fact that I am not confident in a particular area as this would raise a huge unnecessary red flag for the interviewer. If I think I am below average at a certain skill I will say that I can do it (in a confident manner!), give what examples I can and leave it at that. This is true but doesn’t tell the interviewer the whole story.
A smart interviewer will dig down into the specifics and will ask more specific questions, meaning that you have to tackle your weak areas. In that case I will feel free to be more open as I will be more confident in the interviewer’s ability to accurately assess myself and the other candidates.
In my experience smart interviewers are rare.