Toyspeed.org.nz Message Board

So i had a job interveiw today and i was told i held myself well but came accross slightly over confident...


Is that a good or a bad thing?

IMHO showing confidence is a good thing.

Coming across as being over-confident can be a potential bad thing as people could possibly perceive you to be a prick with his head stuck up his arse.

Sorry I couldn't find another way to describe it...

Different people perceive things different, I think allot depends on who you are dealing with at the time.

Confident is good, Over confident is generally bad

Yea, being 'over' something usually means you have 'X' surplus to requirement.

Confidence scares people... tall poppy etc.

Be mediocre and then no-one will feel threatened.

Yeah, i had a feeling that was the case.. i mean he said it in a " I like the way you come across, you seem "abit" over confident but you sgenerally hold yourself well. "

So im hopeing i was reading into it wrong or somthing, trying to hold out hope in a tiny state of denial.

pc wrote:Confidence scares people... tall poppy etc.

Be mediocre and then no-one will feel threatened.

Sorry but no...

Confidence in an interview is essential... unless your going for a job that requires no personality/people skills. (perhaps a role at telecom?)

Im not sure what you said or did, but if your saying like "yeah i kow all that", or "yeah ive done that", trying saying that you "have experience" with it ten back it up with a brief example... alternatively say that you are "very comfortable" with it for example...

A *BIT* over confident isn't too bad, over confident IS bad. From the viewpoint of someone heading or generally being a part of a team, you wouldn't want some overconfident joining it as the overconfidence can ofter come hand in hand being not a team player...

It sounds like it was given as constructive criticism, the fact he told you probably implies he doesn't think you're a lost cause or anything.

I wouldn't worry about it... sounds like he is just saying that you might have been a little more relaxed than he expected, or had more confidence in your abilities than he expected.

In successive job interviews I was turned down on I was told I was too confident (ANZ) and not confident enough (Vodafone). Basically no matter what you do your screwed

Well i most certainly didnt go in there with the I know everything attitude, i think it was more the fact i wasnt worried ( i belived i had no chance and was just trying for interveiw practice ) and perhaps came accross as highlighted alittle bit to relaxed giving him the impression i was to confident or even been cocky, when he said what he said we had a laugh tho as i highlighted that i was nervous ( caused by his comments now haha ..

Thanx neway guys, been its a sales job and the person been interviewed before me had a much bigger "set" of assets, my chances wernt that great before i even met the guy.

Id be no sales person if i didnt speak, and present my self without appearing to be shy etc would i, i guess


You win some, you lose some... Sad thing now is i kinda want the job ( after i saw the company first hand, its products etc.)

Cliff the problem I see here is you went in to the Interview with the wrong attitude...

When you go in there with the thought in the back of your head that you probably won't get the job and that you're not qualified enough etc to do it you've already put yourself on the back foot.

Kudos if you get it or not. It's all about selling yourself, confidently without coming across as a 'Know it all' or something rather. If you don't end up getting the job then you can still be confident in the fact that you sold yourself and made a good impression in the interview making your chances all that better for next time. You never know when they might quickly need someone else to fill a role and when that happens you'd want them to remember you don't you...

Being confident is a good thing but always be honest. If you can't do something (eg programming) don't say you can. Highlight your strengths and willingness to learn.

If you are too confident then you will usually be passed over for someone who may be a little bit more humble. On the other hand, some employers like confidence as opposed to being a bit shy and embarrassed...

Over-Confident sales people generally turn people off to buying/signing up to something. Thats what i find anyway...

hmmm say you are interviewing people for a job, and you found the guy you wanted 2nd interview in. you're still obliged to interiew the rest, and you somehow have to make up excuses for not hiring the the other 30 odd people, you're probly gonna come up with some BS excuses

thats the way i would think of it anyway.

I have interviewed a few people in my time, you can usually get away with saying the role has been filled internally etc... i got in trouble once for cutting an interview short because the guy could hardly speak english (this was for a helpdesk i was running) the guy got all arsey and got HR involved... at the end of the day he still got nothing but caused me a little grief... thats the last time i ever let hr choose my shortlist for me

slightly OT, but nothing makes me want to never return to a store, quite like an aggressive salesman, pushing for a sale to meet his monthly friggen bonus or something.

Oh i totally agree, i most certainly do not consider myself to be anything close to that. With my first sales job we all missed commission 80% of the time as the company over promised to Aussie we could do all these figures we never had a chance of pulling off.

So my job just became focused on growing the customers not beacuse i got a paycheck from it, but beacuse i could say ( i grew xxx by 8% ) saving me when reports were due as to why i ( we all were ) 35% behind our budgets.