I had an interview recently where I told the candidate upfront: keep it high level, we do not need all the details. They spoke for the next five minutes without taking a breath. I tried to interject. They kept going.

I get it. When you really want something, the instinct is to give everything you have. More detail, more context, more proof that you are the right person. It feels like the right move in the moment.

It is not.

Ironically, the more someone talks without stopping, the less I retain. And the more I find myself watching the clock rather than listening to the content. If you are in an interview and you are hoping to be remembered for the right reasons, concise and clear will always outperform thorough and exhaustive.

A little while back, I was reviewing candidates for a senior role. Strong field, genuinely competitive. One candidate in particular stood out on paper. Great experience, solid background, exactly the kind of profile we get excited about.

I was conducting a virtual interview recently when something caught my eye. The candidate was wearing glasses, and in the reflection, I could see exactly what was on their other screen. They were reading. Not glancing at notes. Reading. Full sentences, scrolling as they went.

Someone told me recently that they had already decided not to look at a resume. Not because of the experience on it. Not because of the qualifications. Because of how long the career history was and what that implied about the candidate's age.