That 'fake it till you make it' advice nearly cost me a job offer

I walked into an interview for a project manager role thinking I could bluff my way through questions about construction timelines. Second question in, the guy asked me to estimate a 3-month schedule off the top of my head. I gave some vague answer and he just stared at me. Spent the next weekend actually learning how to build a Gantt chart in Excel. Next interview I brought a printout of a sample schedule I made from scratch. Got the job. Has anyone else had a moment where pretending backfired and being real actually worked better?

2 comments

2 Comments

terryr468d ago

Bringing a sample schedule was smart, shows you actually care about the work.

rose_young8d ago

Used to think bringing stuff like that was just overkill for an interview, figured your resume should speak for itself. But after seeing how this actually shows you've thought about the job beyond just showing up, it totally changed my view on it. Now I tell everyone to pull together a few ideas, it really sets you apart from the people who just wing it.