Complexity Is a Tell
For a long time I thought talking plain meant thinking plain.
I’d be on a video interview, camera on, and somewhere in the back of my head I’d be thinking about the other candidates. People I’d never seen. Whether they came across sharper than me, whether their answers had more structure, more vocabulary. I’m not somebody who talks in layers. I say what I mean and stop. Used to read that as a gap between me and everybody else.
Then I started getting offers.
Feedback was always some version of “easy to talk to, strong culture fit.” I used to take that as a consolation prize. Turns out it was the whole thing.
Hiring managers aren’t hoping the next person impresses them. They’re hoping the next person makes the job feel easier. The candidate who gets to the point and leaves them clearer at the end of the call than they were at the start. That’s who gets called back.
Some conversations need technical depth. Most don’t. Most of the time people just want to be understood. They want to feel something when the call ends besides relief that it’s over.
You can’t manufacture that with vocabulary. Either you’re talking to the person or you’re not.
Plain speech isn’t a limitation. It’s just harder than it looks.