I did an interview last week.

Recruiter asks me about why I want to work for their company.

I'm too honest and tell them I mostly just don't want to work for my current company.

Next day get screened out despite being extremely qualified for the job.

Shouldn't have been so honest in that interview lol.

The only true answer is "money".

Yet you have to lie all the time.

Pro tip: when preparing for an interview, find out something about the company. If they have a website, great. Look for things like "About us", "Mission" or "Vision" of the company. Try to align your answers to what the company's mission or vision. Flattery can give you plus points.

When I was interviewed for junior position I was asked why I was applying to a c++ position rather than python, despite me sending python resume before.

The answer was simple "you're hiring c++ devs"

I flunked an interview only once in my entire career (albeit a very short one, mind you). That was when I interviewed for a big Luxory / Fashion company based in Tuscany, Italy. They tried to break my spirit in every "legal" way possible in order to see what my true colours were and I'm ashamed to say that they indeed made a breakthrough pretty easily...so I never got hired. The bastards even went as far as saying that the university I had attended was re known for being the "easy one" lazy people would go to in order to get a degree. That really hurt me and I guess it showed.

Apart from that I was always successful. The trick was being completely honest whenever I didn't know a stack or technology by simply stating that I was willing to put my everything into learning that or whatever they expected for me to be working with.

Also, yeah, I would say to study the company mission, and be ready for some subtle flattery to send their way. That works like a charm.

@no-oxygen your interviewer should have been fired

Where I work there is an informal policy that a candidate must present themselves as being a `i want to get towards something` person, rather than `i want to get away from where I am` person.

I only change jobs because I want to get away, so I dont agree with it, but people don't get hired if they come across that way.

@Crost I think that's a common thing, and I definitely did not present myself that way on the interview, so I understand why they screened me out unfortunately

@Crost I appreciate the thought but he was the CTO of this big Luxory firm, basically untouchable

@Nanos Agree on the skill side. But regarding money/intentions... Idk I was taught to lie.

Next time I'll try to be honest.