The reality is, 95% of scenarios don’t require what is asked for, and stating your capabilities in the most generous way is the optimal decision. Just back it up with work.

As much as "fake it till you make it" is a much hated approach, there's a grain of truth to it. Many people only got the chance to prove their merit by bluffing (faking?) it first. Sure, they had to ultimately deliver on the expectations, and perhaps there are more of those who faked it and then failed to deliver. It doesn't change the fact that often you don't even get the chance if you don't project an aura of confidence.

Generally speaking, being confident gets you to places. This really applies to every aspect of life.

If you act like you belong somewhere and that there can be no questions about you belonging there, people in general will not question your presence. If you seem lost, or confused people will be curious why.

Walk into a private event acting like you belong, and there are good chances nobody will realize you shouldn't be there. Walk around looking all confused and you are likely to be asked to validate your presence.

Naturally, this doesn't apply only to places, but also groups, communities, companies...

Numbers made up and simplified but in the same ballpark:

Round-trip ticket across town: 10€

Monthly pass: 50€

Fine: 70€

The chance to be controlled is roughly 1 in 10 for a round-trip. So if one did 5 round-trips in a month, on average one would pay 70 x 5 x 0.1 = 35€. Which is a good price with acceptable variance fur such usage. When caught just pay without fuss.

At some point (between 7 and 8 round-trips) it's more cost effective to just buy the monthly pass, as the average cost of not buying approaches/goes over such threshold.

I've seen many people getting a 3 year contract without having a clue of what they had to do, just buzz words.

Public sector