I Don’t Know
By: June Coffey
Tags: Career Advice, Interviewing, Interview, Recruitment, Interview Tips

Admitting that I do not know something I feel like I am “supposed” to, was a hard thing for me to do. It still is. Especially when my 8-year-old daughter asks me something, I feel the immense pressure of being the all knowing super woman in her world and I feel like if I admit that I don’t know, her whole image of me will come crashing down. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration. I want to hold on to the feeling of being able to answer all her questions and fix everything in her life.

This is like how I felt early on in my career as a recruiter. I had a very hard time admitting that I did not know what something means. I mean, I had a degree in Computer Science, and I am trying to decide who is a good fit for the job or not. I thought if I admitted that I did not know every technology that existed I would look like an idiot. So, I spent many late nights googling all about technologies, how they relate to each other, everything they can be called, etc.

I am here to tell you there is a better way. It is to admit that you don’t know.

Once I got a bit more comfortable in my role, I learned that no one expected me to know it all. In fact, the smartest people I know in the industry openly admits that they don’t know something. These are usually the ones that their staff and colleagues have the highest respect for.

You see, I concluded that the more you know, the more you understand what you don’t know and can openly admit it. Because when you do, it shows real confidence in the things that you do know to be able to admit the things you don’t know. This is like a secret that most hiring managers know and never told us!

Over the last week, I had two candidates who the hiring manager declined because they could not admit that they did not know something in the interview. What they did instead was try to talk their way out of admitting that they don’t know, they went around the question and talked about the things they do know. One of them was interviewing for a manager role, the other an engineer role.

In both of these instances, the hiring managers knew that they did not know the answer. The hiring managers told me later when I gathered feedback that had they just admitting that they don’t know the answer, they probably would have gotten the job.

I understand why the candidates did it. In an interview, they are “supposed” to have the answer, that along with nerves, I probably would have done the same thing. Which is why I wanted to write this article.

I wanted to share that it is okay to admit you don’t know even in an interview. In fact, many times it is preferred. If you still feel badly about just saying I don’t know, say this:

“I don’t know but given the opportunity I am sure I can learn it.”

Please know that this is not me telling you not to do your homework when you interview or do your research, this answer is for the 10 percent of the skills you do not have on the job description but you have 90 percent of all the other skills.

Admitting that you don’t know something can help you win your next interview.

If you are preparing for an interview, these will help:

Good luck.