Employment Guide: Petrosky: Forget impersonation, be you

When going on job interviews, we are always told to “be professional.” But what if your personality does not always lend itself to an air of professionalism?

 I have this problem. On top of being punctual, reliable and all the other qualities employers look for, I like to have fun. I’m easygoing, yet dramatic. Genuine, yet sarcastic. Put together, yet disorganized. My sense of humor tends to make itself known at the most inopportune opportune moments, and sometimes my brain-to-mouth filter doesn’t work. How do I keep all this under control while in an interview?

The easy answer is that I don’t. My worst interviews were those during which I tried to suppress my personality. That’s not to say that I don’t exercise some control while sitting across the desk from a potential employer; I just find it easier — and more comfortable — to just be myself.

The first few interviews I ever had were, to say the least, uncomfortable. Besides being completely out of my element because of the new experience, I felt the need to tone down my personality to an unrecognizable level. I spent the majority of the bus rides running through my answers to possible questions and reminding myself to not crack stupid jokes or be overly dramatic.

I sat stiffly in the designated seat, my back rigid and not touching the back of the chair. I clasped my hands together to keep them from shaking, pushing them down, hard, on my knees to prevent me from nervously jittering in my chair. I reached, desperately, for answers to the questions the interviewer asked, ignoring the answers that naturally came to me and opting for the more complicated, less-like-me answers I perceived would be better accepted.

These were the interviews I left wondering what happened. As I shook the spasm out of my back from holding its stiff posture for so long, I realized how awful I sounded, how blank, how blasé. The person who went into the interview was not the person I am. 

Fast forward to last February and March when I began interviewing for summer internships. I had already had a few interviews that ended like the one described above. I was quickly losing confidence in my ability to interview and was quickly losing hope in receiving an offer for an internship.

And then I had my last scheduled interview. In my head, it was my last chance and, therefore, time to pull out all the stops. I forgot all the rules I had set for myself in prior interviews and went for it.

I cracked stupid jokes. I was sarcastic. I was a tad ridiculous. And I got the job.

I was finally myself in an interview, and it landed me the internship I had my eye on. In reality, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t come to this realization sooner: Being me is a good thing. Employers actually like me when I’m me, instead of some flat version of myself. Not to mention that I feel more at ease because I’m not pretending to be something I’m not.

We’re told that being ourselves is the best thing we can be since the day we’re born. That doesn’t change as we grow up. Being yourself not only allows you to be comfortable during an interview, it also allows the employer see the kind of person you are going to be while working for the company.

And let’s be honest: If an employer doesn’t hire you because of your personality, it’s probably not a company you want to work for, anyway.