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When I was looking for a job last year, I made a point to be honest. I was definitely trying to present an appealing version of myself, but I didn't want to land a job to learn a few weeks in that they had toxic management cultures, insane work expectations or other giant red flags. Maybe if I examined everything I said something was untrue, but I certainly tried to be honest.

I interviewed over 30 places, some of them almost certainly rejected me because I was honest about being a poor fit for a toxic environment. But that's fantastic, I wanted them to reject me if they were like that. I'm super happy with where I landed.

Lots of people lie, and there's certainly an expectation to lie and commodify yourself. Some people even believe the lies they tell themselves. But I think being more honest about your basic expectations and minimum requirements is a better strategy. Be yourself, and not the commodity they want you to be, but also make sure they understand why your unique skills are helpful to them. It's a fine line, but I think threading it works well, and if everybody tried to, we'd have a bit better world.