Ah, to be (yourself) or not be (yourself). That is the question in a job interview.

The jury is in and they’re split down the middle. I, on the other hand am firmly convinced: both answers are correct – to a point. Let me explain:

No one says you should be memorizing a script, blocking every possible scenario, or rehearsing every gesture ahead of your job interview. However, what you really need to do – and be – is not far removed from that.

Try this: imagine you’ve just hired your ‘best professional self’ to star in your own, personal ‘interview reality show’! Like an actor would, learn your lines, do your research, and deliver a stellar performance. It’s time to pull out all the stops – and not time to be ‘just yourself’ or ‘all the selves you are or can be’.

Be your ‘best professional self’ that embodies the characteristics that are most desirable to the employer for the position you are seeking. If you don’t know what they are, find out. Learn about the company’s ‘culture’ and ask yourself if you can adapt to their framework. If you honestly can’t, why would you even bother pretending to be someone you’re not and fake your way through the job interview? Now that’s being duplicitous – and it’s cheating on yourself.

Though you don’t want to appear mechanical or scripted, you certainly don’t want to wing it either. Some job candidates make the mistake of memorizing their responses and then rattling them off in the interview like an actor would in the first read-through of a play. This is not captivating and it doesn’t represent the real you. Learn your story, and tell it genuinely with confidence, clarity and relevance to the question at hand.

Acting ‘your best professional self’ is not being duplicitous or fake, no more than an actor is when they’re ‘selling’ you the part they’re playing. And for an actor (or an interviewee) bringing too much of one’s personality into the character can be as detrimental as not bringing nearly enough. Bottom line: it’s a balancing act between being your genuine, brilliant self and your ‘best professional self’.

In short, everyone agrees: if your idea of being yourself is showing up to a job interview in a corporate environment looking like work is the place you go to between parties, then maybe it is better to fake it – and bring your ‘best-dressed, professional self’ to this monster gig instead.

Read the next interview coach Interview Tip: What Interviewers Really Want to Know

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