The key is “Indifference”
Basically indifference means that you don’t care, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Indifference is a way that you feel. There’s a fine line between being careless (not caring), and being desperate. Indifference is the line between those two. You can’t really walk into an interview and act like you don’t care. At the same time, you can’t go in reeking (smelling) of desperation.
So imagine yourself going into an interview, right? You need enthusiasm, smile and don’t answer questions with one word. One word answers show that you’re nervous, or you don’t care about the outcome of the position. Imagine the script below:
Part 1 (Indifference) – Caring / Enthusiasm
For the sake of the script, the interviewer is Jeremy, and your name is Suzie.
Jeremy: (walks into the lobby and asks for Suzie): Is Suzie here?
You (Suzie): Yes, hello, how are you? (And shake their hand)
Jeremy: So follow me right in here. (Small talk / how was your ride in, etc.) Just a few questions to start, I was reading over your resume and it says you worked with XYZ Computer Company. What did you do for them?
1a.) You: (wrong answer) – I worked with Microsoft Word.
1b.) You: (better answer) – I started off helping our graphic designers by organizing their projects, sometimes there would be 15+ projects to complete every week. After a while they allowed me to run my own projects for their clients which really showed me how to communicate when there’s more than one thing going on.
Explained:
The first answer (1a) is extremely short, which shows you’re either nervous or you don’t care about the position / the interview. The second answer (1b) shows you how to paint the picture (for the interviewer) that you’re a good fit for the job without making it seem like you’re trying hard to sell yourself. In that one answer you’re showing that you’re capable of working with others (communicating); you’re capable of growth, and capable of taking on new responsibilities.
More simply, you’re telling a story of how you started off doing something small, and you grew able to adapt and become more valuable to the company. On top of that, you care about the interviewers time, by giving them more information to use. One main question an employer will ask themselves about you is; “Will this person (Suzie) add value to our business, or not?”
When your response has more than 5 words, you’re already separating yourself from half of the interviews. It shows you care about that interview.
