ntruthfulness.

[Sidenote: Motive of Suggestion]

After all it is your _motive_ that determines the right or wrong use of
suggestion in getting yourself wanted. If you keep carefully in mind a
purpose to _suggest less instead of more than the truth_ about your
capabilities, you need not fear that you will offend by over-drawing the
picture of your real self.

If _your_ motive is wrong, it will lower the quality of _your_ manhood.
If you suggest a wrong motive to the _other_ man, the effect is to lower
_his_ manhood qualities in considering you. _It is particularly
important not to stimulate a motive that may afterward operate to your
detriment_.

[Sidenote: Over-Suggestion of Ability]

I know a young man who was so eager to show his willingness to work that
he suggested absolute tirelessness. His employer, though he appreciated
what this young man did, kept overloading him. Finally the employee
broke down and made a serious mistake. He was unjustly dismissed from
service because _he had encouraged his employer to depend on him
altogether too much, and disappointment resulted_.

Do not pretend a higher degree of ability than you possess. Attempt no
more than you can do well. You will succeed in getting yourself wanted
if you _manifest promise of growth_ in capability. If you are a sapling,
do not pose as a full grown tree of knowledge.

[Sidenote: Selling Out To Competitor]

Sometimes it happens that a man can present his capabilities for sale
and appear especially desirable to another man because he possesses
certain knowledge the employer would like to have. Maybe you have sought
to gain your chance by carrying to a competitor of your former employer
the latter's secrets. If you come with the suggestion that you will sell
out, you are offering a service that does not command full respect, and
you are appealing only to the _lower motives_ of your prospect. You do
not thereby get _yourself_ wanted. He wants _what you know_. What you
have learned fairly by working for one man, you have a right to sell
fairly to another man, of course. But do not suggest that this special
knowledge is the _principal element_ of your desirability. Suggest,
rather, that it is _only incidental to your all-around fitness_ for the
job you want.

[Sidenote: Self-Respect]

Use what you know without pandering to the lower motives of your new
employer. Impel him to like you for what you _are_, and not merely for
what you _bring_. Open