Most people do not lose interviews because they lack experience. They lose them because of how they describe the experience they already have. Words like only, just, a little bit and basic shrink real work down to something forgettable, and the person across the table has no way of knowing what sat behind them.
Here is why that happens, and how to fix it without overselling.
What Underselling Sounds Like
We were on a call recently with a member, running through her last role so she could get comfortable describing it out loud. It went something like this.
"What were you doing in that role?"
"Mainly the learning system. And a bit of instructional design, but really small."
"Did you build anything?"
"A little bit. We had a designer for a while. I did small parts, and updates after he left."
"What did you build?"
"Just a really basic onboarding course. Nothing technical."
Every answer was true. Every one made her sound smaller than she is.
In reality she ran learning for an organisation of several thousand people. She owned the annual performance review process end to end, coaching managers and employees through it. She kept the onboarding program running after the specialist left. None of that made it into the room.
Which Words Are Costing You?
Listen back to yourself and you will hear the same handful, usually arriving right before the good part of the sentence.
- Only
- Just
- A little bit
- Basic
- Kind of
- I suppose
- Not really
These are not modesty. They are a translation error. You know what sits behind them. The interviewer does not.
Is It Dishonest To Talk Yourself Up?
Almost every person we raise this with says the same thing. "I do not want to oversell myself. I do not want to be untruthful."
Hold onto that instinct. It is a good one. But underselling is not more honest than overselling, it is simply inaccurate in the other direction. If you did the work, saying you did the work is the accurate version.
Your job is to give the facts and let them decide the weight.
How Do You Describe Your Role Without Overselling It?
Context does the heavy lifting. Name the size, the volume, who you worked with, and what you owned. Then stop talking.
Before: "I just did the learning system, mostly admin stuff."
After: "I managed the learning management system for an organisation of several thousand people. That covered course enrolments, compliance certifications across multiple business areas, and reporting for the leadership team."
Before: "I did a bit of instructional design, but it was really basic."
After: "I built and maintained our online onboarding program, and picked up all content updates when our instructional designer left."
Before: "My role was sort of split between learning and HR."
After: "My role sat across both learning and HR coordination, so I handled onboarding, offboarding and performance reviews alongside the learning function. For a smaller team, that combination means one person instead of two."
Same facts. Same honesty. No inflation. It just sounds like what it was.
Your Action This Week
Pick your most recent role and say it out loud, as if someone had just asked you about it. Record it on your phone if you can. Play it back and circle every only, just, a little bit and basic. Rewrite those sentences without them, then say it again.
It will feel uncomfortable the first few times. That fades quickly with repetition. What you are building is not confidence exactly. It is accuracy.
You are not overselling. You are finally describing the job you actually did.
Common Questions
Why do I go blank when someone asks what I do?
Because recall is a separate skill from doing the work. Nobody carries ten years of their career on the tip of their tongue. It comes back with practice, not with more experience.
How do I talk about something I only did a small part of?
Say what your part was, plainly, and give it context. "I contributed to X, and owned Y within it" is honest and specific. The problem is not the small part. It is the word only.
Should I use numbers when describing my experience?
Where they help someone picture the scale, yes. Team size, headcount, volume and frequency all give useful context. You do not need dollar figures, and a percentage works if the raw number is sensitive.
What if I genuinely am not experienced in something?
Then say so and move on. This is not about claiming skills you do not have. It is about giving full credit to the ones you do.
Bianca and Emma
People and Purpose
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