May 2026 marks a period of massive transition for me. After over seven years of working full-time in the industry, including the last three years as a data architect, I’ve made the leap to leave the corporate nest and dedicate myself entirely to building KajoData. It’s the perfect time to look at the job market from a slightly different, broader perspective. Usually, on my blog, I focus on hard skills—how to master SQL or build a data portfolio in Python. Today, however, I want to do something different.
I recently stumbled upon an incredibly interesting video where Farah Sharghi—a former recruiter for tech giants like Google, TikTok, and Uber—talks about how you should behave during job interviews. What really caught my attention was the premise of her video: it suggests that you actually need to… lie during an interview. I decided to break down her material and compare it with my own experiences, both as a candidate and as a technical lead hiring for my own teams. So, is honesty really the best policy?
Honesty vs. Strategy, or Why Everybody Lies
The very first thing the ex-recruiter points out is our tendency to confuse absolute honesty with a desirable candidate trait. Honesty is, of course, wonderful and sought after, but—let’s be brutally honest—mostly by the person negotiating against you. If you’re buying a used car, you’d love for the dealer to tell you that the car was crashed three times and is held together by duct tape. That works to your advantage.
Farah phrased it perfectly: the version of the truth you offer in an interview isn’t “fake.” It is simply what the people on the other side of the hiring table expect you to say. Let’s call it what it is—framing reality appropriately is a negotiation strategy. As the famous Dr. House used to say: “Everybody lies.” We operate in a sort of dual theater where we assume we are hearing the truth, but we know it’s a highly curated truth. If we walked into an interview and dumped all our personal grievances and professional frustrations on the table, no one would ever hire us.
The Ten-Second Test
The first rule, according to Farah, revolves around a simple question: “How are you?”. This seems like classic small talk, a simple courtesy while the recruiter is pulling up your resume. Nothing could be further from the truth. The audition starts long before the first technical question is asked.
Candidates lose momentum in the first ten seconds by saying things like: “I’m just getting over a cold,” “It’s been a rough week,” or “Traffic was a nightmare.” The recruiter isn’t judging your luck with traffic. They are making a mental note about how you will show up on a difficult day at work.
Can you regulate your energy? Managing emotions is absolutely the most underrated aspect of working in IT and data analysis. Our job isn’t just writing code in a vacuum. It involves endless meetings, frustrations over dirty data, and shifting business requirements. If you present yourself as a negative person from the get-go, the recruiter assumes that’s who you are every day. You should always say: “I’m great, thank you. How are you?”. This isn’t being fake. It’s showing that you can manage your mood when it matters most.
Why Do You Want to Work Here? (And Why You Must Flip the Question)
Let’s consider the classic: “Why do you want to work for us?”. In Poland, we have great memes about this: “You are looking for an employee, and I am looking for money.” Farah suggests we stop spouting nonsense about how much we love the company’s mission that we just skimmed five minutes ago on their “About Us” page. That tells them absolutely nothing about you.
Instead, she advises flipping the question entirely. Stop making it about what you want from them, and start making it about what you are going to do for them. For example: “I’ve outgrown my current role, I’m looking for a new challenge, and based on your team’s goals, I know I can help you solve X.”
I have to add a pinch of salt from my perspective, though. This approach is slightly idealistic. In today’s job market, where you might be sending out dozens of CVs, doing deep enough research to know the exact granular problems of a specific team is nearly impossible. However, it is absolutely worth doing basic research on the company and seamlessly connecting your past experience to their general direction. Treat the interview like a meeting between two parties who both have something to offer. Sure, as job seekers, we are usually in the weaker position, but building a partnership narrative always scores points.
The 5-Year Question and Managing Boredom
The question about where you see yourself in five years is infamous. Farah reveals that recruiters don’t actually care about your grand life plan. They want to know two things: will you leave in six months, and do your goals align with this role, or will you get bored and become a problem?
That is why, according to her, you should never say you plan to start your own business or go to grad school—even if it’s true. You should say that you see yourself here, becoming an expert and a valuable part of this specific team.
I would take this a step further. Less “I”, more “we”. For me, as a technical interviewer, it is incredibly convincing when someone says they want to join a team of great people, do cool things with them, and in five years, they see us as an even better team solving even harder problems together. Managing employee boredom is a real headache for every leader.
If you feel that the process of preparing for interviews or acquiring the right skills is giving you a headache, remember you don’t have to do it alone. In KajoDataSpace, we are building comprehensive paths—from learning the fundamental tools to supporting you in interview prep and entering the data industry.
The Toxic Boss Syndrome and Massive Risk
This is an absolutely crucial point. “Why are you looking for a new opportunity?”. You are currently employed, but you want to escape. What do we NEVER say? We never say that our boss is an idiot, the company culture is toxic, or that we are undervalued and underpaid.
And this is, once again, a moment where we have to bend the truth. Let’s not kid ourselves—people rarely leave places where everything is wonderful. They usually run away precisely because of bad management. But pouring out your grievances in an interview doesn’t earn you points for honesty.
Farah explains this flawlessly: “When you trash your current employer, I’m not thinking about how terrible it sounds for you. I’m thinking, what is she going to say about us in two years?”. You simply become a massive RISK.
Every job candidate is a huge risk for a company. Hiring an employee, onboarding, equipment, contracts—these are giant costs. If you let someone into the company and they turn out to be conflict-prone or negative, you lose time and money. That is why risks are eliminated. At the recruitment stage, every “red flag” is an excuse to reject your CV. The only exceptions are absolute, brilliant geniuses in their niches—they are forgiven more quirks. The rest of us have to play clean. Remember: omitting the negatives is also a very elegant way of talking about your past. “I learned a lot, but I am ready for new challenges.” Period.
Micromanagement is in the Eye of the Beholder
The same applies to the question about your current manager. Farah shares a story of a candidate who complained about a “micromanager.” It turned out that the person interviewing her—her potential future boss—had exactly the same heavily involved management style. The candidate didn’t get the job.
The problem with terms like “micromanagement” is their subjectivity. It’s your lens. To you, it’s breathing down your neck; to the boss, it’s ensuring the project gets delivered. When a recruiter hears this, a warning light goes off: “What if this person is just oversensitive? What if they take every minor piece of feedback as an attack?”.
We live in times where ordinary, even if slightly rough, criticism is very easily categorized as “hate.” Managers are afraid of snowflake employees who will generate HR problems. How do you get out of this? The former Google recruiter advises a masterful maneuver. Instead of saying the boss was a micromanager, say: “My manager was great at providing structure for our team’s goals. I learned a lot about processes from him.” This is next-level diplomacy. An intelligent interviewer will guess that you worked under a tight grip, but they will also see that they are dealing with a classy individual who can extract the positives.
Hobbies and the Battle for the Recruiter’s Brain
The last point that intrigued me is the issue of hobbies. Many people treat this as irrelevant filler at the bottom of a CV. “I like watching TV shows and hanging out with friends.” Who doesn’t?
Farah argues that a hobby is a tool to make yourself memorable. She brings up the example of a girl who was restoring a vintage motorcycle in her garage. She wasn’t applying to be a mechanic; she was applying for a marketing role. But that one detail showed she was patient, curious, and willing to figure things out.
We live in a world of fierce competition. We compete with other candidates for the position, but above all, we compete for a fraction of memory in the recruiter’s overstimulated brain. A bit like how I am competing for your attention right now so you read this text to the end. “Becoming forgettable” is the worst thing that can happen to you. You need to paint a picture of who you are after work. Pick the version of yourself that is true and simultaneously triggers the thought: “I’d want to grab a coffee with that person.”
Summary
A job interview is a specific kind of game. It’s not about lying regarding your technical skills or experience—I absolutely do not endorse that. It’s about strategic communication, managing your image, and proving that you are a person who solves problems rather than generating them. The ability to “read between the lines” and serve facts appropriately is a competency that will serve you not only in interviews but in your daily work as a data analyst when you have to present results to a demanding board of directors.
If you found this article valuable and think it could help someone in your network who is facing upcoming recruitment processes, I would be incredibly grateful if you shared it on your social media—LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram. Your recommendations are the biggest reward for me. Talk to you in the next posts!
The article was written by Kajo Rudziński – analytical data architect, recognized expert in data analysis, creator of KajoData and polish community for analysts KajoDataSpace.
That’s all on this topic. Analyze in peace!
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