>Answer basic questions like why are you applying to that company? What do you gain from that role? People can smell desperation.

Question for you: When you get this sort of question, do you answer honestly, or "honestly"?

My current company has been in a pretty steep decline in terms of quality. I feel that they undervalue the work that I do, do not pay me appropriately for the work that I do, are skirting around fundamental things (like paying for job-related education/certs/etc.), and are just generally mismanaging the company.

I don't have a problem saying those things - I believe in honesty - however, I realize that me going into an interview as a complete stranger and telling them all of these problems would give that company a very negative perspective of myself. "This guy doesn't even know us, and if this is how he talks about his current employer, he'd probably talk about us the same way too. Pass."

Instead, I try to find related-truths, and avoid the direct issues. "I'm looking to see what else is out there, and find new technical challenges. I feel like I have done a lot of good work and that my current company is in a good position, but I don't want my technical skills to deteriorate, so I'm looking to keep my skills up-to-date by tackling new problems."

It seems to get a generally okay response, but I don't know if that reeks of some kind of "desperation" or not. What is your opinion on something like that be? I'm struggling to be both truthful, sincere, and give an actual answer, not just "corporate-speak" with buzzwords and non-statements.

A litany of gripes about your current employer is generally not a good look in an interview. Positivity is better than negativity. Why do you want to work for the company you're interviewing with? It can be inferred that you likely have some complaints about your current role but you probably don't want to give the impression that you'll take whatever you can get because any port in a storm.

Hmm, that makes sense. I think I'm probably making the mistake of too much of a "shotgun" approach and applying to jobs I'm not particularly passionate about.

Sure. Pretty much most variants of looking for a change. It's fine if there are lots of things that you'd be open to that are different from what you're doing today, but you can tailor that for the company.

I've always had a pretty good idea when I've shifted companies (although in one case it was I want to do the same thing but with a solvent company). However, it's always been with people I knew. I've never had a real interview since grad school decades ago.

I think your strategy of being "honest" is not bad at all if you're looking to not trip any wire and disqualify from an interview. But if you're looking to land a job that truly aligns with your values and are not desperate to switch jobs, have enough time to look, perhaps being honest would take you further.

That's fair. I feel a pretty terrible twinge at the prospect of telling a "selective truth". I see it as a form of lying, but feel nervous at the idea of making myself less desirable than other candidates. It's a very hard ethical issue to deal with.

Honestly, the idea of working with any company in the niche I'm currently qualified in isn't particularly exciting. I've been studying for a few months to move into a different industry (cybersec), so perhaps it would be better for me to back off from actively applying, and instead focus more on what sounds interesting, and come at it from an eye on that subject instead.

It's frustrating because I see a reasonable amount of job opportunities out there for my current field, but I find it very hard to feel excited about applying to a company that does, say, insurance or finance. I feel enough motivation to know that I don't like where I am right now, but I can't quite define how moving into a company who focuses on one of those things would be something that I'm passionate about. I suppose applying to those sorts of jobs would then, essentially be guaranteeing that I move on in a few years.