Is saying "I don't know / I'm not sure" a good charecteristic?
If you are posed with a question and you are sure you don't know the answer do you beat around the bush or come out clean with an honest "I'm don't know about this but I know something that completely irrelevant to your question which is..."
I like to keep it real but getting a feeling that being the nice honest guy is not going to help you in your career progression...
Saying "I don't know" is not great, but coming up with BS that is clearly wrong is even worse, especially at an entry level.
You can see it as the lesser of the two evils. Unless you're a really good bser, then just stick with the first one.
I found it, as your career progresses, people tend to say "I don't know", but occasionally, it happens.
Context is everything. In an interview, if you don't know the answer, say, "I don't know." If it is a reasoning question like how many windows are in Manhattan or something, then reason through it even if you are 100% wrong you need to show thought progression.
Now, if your boss asks you a question on the job and you don't know the answer, you simply say, "I don't know, but I'll find out right away." Again, the greater point is that if you don't know you better figure it out. All that said, there are certainly times where you should fake it until you make it, so to speak. Much of it depends on your personality, actual competence, interpersonal skills, etc.
Look, at the end of the day you should just be up front about it. This also applies to when someone gives you an assignment and you aren't clear about it up front; please for the love of god clarify what they are looking for. Don't just run down a rabbit hole with no idea because it feels better to say, "Yeah, got it. All good"
This depends so much on context...is it an interview? An informal chat (as your tags show)? A job assignment? Etc?
If you're just networking over coffee, and someone asks you if you know something, and you don't, the right responses are to say you're interesting in learning and ask if the person has any advice. Puts it back on them and people love being "experts" at things.
If it's an interview, say that you don't but tell them you'll learn it before you start. Then learn it. Shows initiative.
If it's a job assignment, for the love of god ask for help. Don't just fuck it up.
Basically when you are getting into an informal conversation and you are asked something. Would that come off as a guy who is uninteresting or good enough? For Example Im interning as an auditor for a start up company and somebody asked me what was the valuation of this company. Since I had only access to the Income statement and Cashflows (at that time) I said that I don't know because i didn't have access to these files.
I kinda felt he was disappointed with that answer. Should I have said it's a company easily over USD 500K just to keep the subject going? My knowledge on Valuation is very scarce so I know i will be caught out if the guy himself is an expert...
Sometimes you're going to disappoint people. You learn to get over that eventually.
Sometimes too it all comes down to phrasing. "I don't know because I don't have access to those files" just sounds more passive than "where can I find the _________? I'll get that to you right away."
Or were you just supposed to know the valuation already? Was it a matter of them expecting you to walk into that meeting or whatever already knowing it? If so, you should start doing your homework before those situations more.
I wouldn't worry all that much about it though. Just impress from here on out.
Ok thanks for your helpful posts. The guy I was talking to was friend of friend and he knew I was trying to get into a PE firm as an analyst. He probably asked that to test my knowledge and I regret the way I answered it!
Information he asked for is probably confidential, so could have just said that to get out of it but that's unnecessarily standoffish.
Should have answered with rough estimate of annual revenues, expenses, users/customers, any information that is relevant to his question. Better to give him something than nothing.
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