Having to down play your Intelligence at a Job interview.

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Yea,

Well I just had my 2nd phone interview with them and they at the end without me asking said they'd definitely be in touch.

But what threw me off was they also said that the hiring manager was out of the country, and that it will take longer to process cause of that.

Were they being sarcastic?

I doubt it.

They probably need his/her signature on documents etc before they can hire you officially. All part of the red tape. I know someone from the US here on WP who applied for a government position and they were taking forever to get back to her. It's quite possible he/she is currently out of the country either on business or vacation leave.

True and they were laughing casually the entire time, I don't really feel like they would say that to put me off.
They didn't seemed rush to get off the phone and asked me more questions despite there being only 2-3 minutes before their next interview.

So, we'll have to see.

I think one of the reasons I was fired in probation period was that I was better in some things than the coworker who was there to train (?) me. I came off as too critical when I made suggestions.

Also, people don't want to learn new things, which also extends to job interviews.

How on earth are we ever going to advance as a race, if everyone is threatened by someone smarter than them?
*Sighs in disappointment*

I'm sorry you got fired, that definitely is not cool and whoever you were working with sounds very insecure and doesn't sound like a place I'd want to work at honestly.

I usually have to exaggerate my intelligence at work and in job interviews so I can fit in with people who are smarter than me.

In a job interview, you have to show your "social side." Most employers don't care if you know that "polemics" has nothing to do with "poetry."

Some articles claim that it is sometimes easier to get a job by leaving academic degrees that indicate overqualification off

A job counselor said that employers want someone that fulfills a skill quota and limit

When they looked at applications from overqualified applicants they suspect the applicant would change jobs too soon when they got something better. Or that the applicant expects higher pay

Seriously though. Ten years ago I got a BA in Cognitive Science. And none of the jobs that I have had ever require any college

Some jobs require a degree but do not specify what subject. Such as teachers and insurance agency

But I regret getting a degree.

Society pressure

Family expectations and pressure

I'm going to be frank with you, it's not about downplaying intelligence, its about giving off that "I'm better than you" vibe. It comes off as obnoxious arrogance and people generally don't take to that too well. For some it's a difficult balance to attain but it's perfectly possible to be brilliant at what you do and modest at the same time. In fact, it's desirable.

If I were an employer I would definitely be looking for someone who can think on their own two feet and solve problems without having to have their hand held, but if there were indications that person was arrogant that would be off-putting. It brings unnecessary conflict and may not be worth having a genius working for me if that person creates a toxic environment or if I would have to "protect" that person from the social ostracisation that comes with it.

______________________________________

You can't measure intelligence. What someone labels as "arrogant", someone else does not label as arrogant.

"Critical thinking" skills serve a function in some situations

However, (especially for the menial, minimum wage jobs that made the mistake of hiring my worthless corpse), the bosses did not expect or want me to practice critical thinking skills. Instead they wanted me to do what they told me to do.

At least two bosses were so arrogant that they had the nerve to ask "why are you smiling?".

So please imagine, if they had the nerve to interrogate me about something as meaningless and trivial as nonverbal communication, just because they did not like it, imagine how they would have responded if and when I tried to apply critical thinking to a situation.



When I was volunteering at Prisoners Literature Project, the woman in charge had the nerve to tell me that I was addressing packages so quickly that I must have been doing it wrong.

IQ tests, while there is controversy, measure something, a small fraction of what the person is capable of doing. But there are all sorts of intelligences, besides chaperone abilities such as creativity.

For instance, an Aspie might be very book smart but ret*d when it comes to 'street smarts' or even emotional intelligence, such as knowing how to navigate certain social situations. Since Aspies are not very high on the emotional intelligence scale, it's perfectly plausible that one on the spectrum does not mean to come off as arrogant, but does anyways. And when it comes down to it, what really matters in a job interview or any other decisive social interaction is what the interviewers think of the interviewee. If you give them reason to think that you're arrogant it can be a problem.

'Arrogant' is defined as:

1. Having or displaying a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance.
2. Marked by or arising from a feeling or assumption of one's superiority toward others.

You might know that you're more intelligent (a feeling of one's superiority) than others, but you should never give off the vibe.

Let me just say that I don't think anyone should downplay their intelligence (qualifications, maybe) during a job interview. As I said before, highlighting one's intelligence or capabilities without seeming arrogant can be a difficult balance to attain, even more for someone on the spectrum.

Yeah this seems to be a real problem for intelligent aspies. It's not the intelligence that is off putting, it's the talking down to other people like they are stupid that grates on others.

Update:

Job A: So, as a test for one of the in person interviews I did not hold back my intelligence but didn't shove it in their faces clearly, but more acted like an ambassador trying to help bring 2 people together to a solution.

Didn't hear back. But there's still time and they're both government posts so time is slow.

Job B: I had a 2nd phone interview with the next agency and answered all 30 of their questions while remaining my intelligence and not holding it back but went into a more explainable mode while answering like this is xyx and this does abc. I heard back 6 days later wanting to do an in person interview next month.

So, hopefully this gives you all some ideas of how to play intelligence during job interviews.
As a note, I wasn't as interested in Job A as I am in Job B because Job A only is contractual while Job B is a full-time perm post.

Well, looks like you're on the right track. Good luck!

Awesome. That sounds really good.

Perhaps you're not as smart as you think you are. A prerequisite of learning is humility.

That said, I hope you find employment in a field you find satisfying.