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What words should you avoid in a job interview?

Answered by Find Your Dream Job: Insider Tips for Finding Work, Advancing your Career, and Loving Your Job with Mac Prichard · Sep 17, 2026

Drop the hedges, the fillers, the disclaimers, and the little requests for validation. That's the short list from communication coach Tracy Hooper on Find Your Dream Job with host Mac Prichard. Words like "just," "kind of," "I could be wrong, but," and "does that make sense?" quietly signal that you don't trust your own answer. Tracy explains why interviewers read those words as a lack of confidence, gives specific replacements, and offers a realistic plan for breaking the habit one word at a time.

Confidence is the thing every interviewer is listening for

Tracy's starting point is that hiring managers are scanning for confidence, whether they say so or not. They're asking themselves if this person will hold their own in a client meeting or a tough conversation with a colleague. Word choice is one of the fastest ways they form that impression.

She calls the good ones "becoming" words: language that fits a capable professional. The problem words fall into a few families, and most of us use them without noticing. Tracy admits she only discovered her own verbal tic after hearing a recording of herself, which is also her first piece of advice: record a practice answer and listen back.

"When we use these words, they don't make us sound as if we're confident, and that's what everyone is looking for."

Hedges and fillers: the words that shrink your answer

Fillers are the obvious ones: "um," "like," "you know," "really," and "so" at the start of every sentence. They're noise, and in an interview the noise gets counted.

Hedges are sneakier because they feel polite. "Just," "kind of," "a little bit," "sort of," "maybe," "I guess," "actually," and the catch-all "stuff." Tracy's point is that we reach for them to sound modest, but the listener doesn't hear modesty. They hear someone who isn't sure. "I just managed a small team" and "I managed a team of six" describe the same job, and only one of them sounds like a leader. She also flags "thing" as a word to retire, because it's vague where an interviewer wants specifics.

"Hedges are those words where we want to sound humble or modest but they don't make us sound confident."

Disclaimers, validators, and apologies

Disclaimers are the pre-emptive apologies for having an opinion: "correct me if I'm wrong," "you've been doing this longer than me," "what do I know," "just my two cents," "this might sound crazy." Each one hands the interviewer a reason to discount what comes next.

Validators are the tags at the end: "does that make sense?", "am I being clear?", "is that okay?", "do you see what I'm saying?" They ask the interviewer to reassure you. Tracy's replacements keep the invitation but drop the neediness: "Do you have questions?", "What are your thoughts?", "How is this landing with you?"

And then there's "I'm sorry," which many candidates use for things that need no apology, like taking a moment to think. Her swap is gratitude: "Thank you for your patience," "Thank you for understanding." One more she likes for a half-formed idea: "This thought is 30 seconds old," which signals candour without self-sabotage.

"When we use the same words as everybody else, then we sound like every other candidate."

What to say instead

For disclaimers, Tracy suggests ownership language: "In my experience," "Here's my perspective," "Let me know if I heard that correctly," "What if we try this," "Let's consider." These frame you as a peer contributing a view rather than a junior asking permission.

For talking about yourself, she recommends direct, declarative constructions: "I'm a quick learner," "My strength is," "People see me as," "I'm known for." These feel bold to say the first few times, which is exactly why they work. Interviewers hear a candidate who knows what they bring. Her reminder is that the company is interested in you specifically, so speak as the unique person they invited in.

"Companies want you. You're your unique person."

A month per word

Tracy is realistic about habit change. You won't purge a decade of "just" in a week, and trying to fix everything at once makes you self-conscious and stilted. Her method is one word or phrase per month. Pick the worst offender from your recording, notice it, replace it, and move on to the next one when it's gone.

She describes the payoff as a virtuous cycle. Cleaner language makes you sound more confident, people respond to you differently, and that response makes you feel more confident, which cleans up your language further. Paired with posture and presence, she says, it changes how much you're seen and heard, in interviews and after you get the job.

"Be kind to yourself, give yourself a month per word or phrase."

People also ask

Is it bad to say 'um' in a job interview?

A few won't sink you, but Tracy Hooper lists fillers like "um," "like," and "you know" among the words that erode the impression of confidence. Record yourself to find out how often you use them.

How do I stop saying 'just' all the time?

Notice it first, ideally from a recording, then commit to replacing it for a month before moving on to the next habit. Tracy recommends one word or phrase per month.

What should I say instead of 'does that make sense?'

Tracy suggests "Do you have questions?", "What are your thoughts?", or "How is this landing with you?" These invite feedback without asking for reassurance.

Based on "Words to Use and Lose in Your Next Job Interview" with Tracy Hooper, released September 2, 2026 on Find Your Dream Job (originally Episode 290, April 2021), hosted by Mac Prichard of Mac's List.