All of us need to put our greatest foot ahead in a job interview. Typically, that includes exaggerations and white lies. In truth, more often than not it does.
A survey of employees and hiring managers from the Interview Guys, a profession web site, discovered that almost all of staff exaggerate and pad their résumés by overstating their {qualifications}. A number of the commonest lies are about their expertise and accomplishments, strengths and weaknesses, and former job obligations.
Candidates additionally admit to mendacity once they tell potential employers that they see themselves nonetheless working on the firm 5 years down the highway. And so they usually inflate their likes and dislikes to match the group’s values.
“Seeing how aggressive the job market could be, many resort to mendacity or exaggerating to separate themselves from the remainder of the pack,” says Mike Simpson, CEO and cofounder of The Interview Guys. “We discovered that over 77% of potential staff really feel stress to exaggerate their competencies to try to achieve favor with a possible employer, and nearly 65% have additionally overstated their {qualifications} on their résumé when making use of to a job that was in excessive demand.”
The best motivation for mendacity was to safe a job provide, says Simpson. “If it means touchdown a job, nearly 83% of potential staff would don’t have any drawback throwing in a white lie right here and there within the utility course of,” he says. “From our research, different widespread motivations for mendacity embody receiving a better wage, receiving a greater job title, and fostering higher relationships with potential coworkers.”
Telltale clues a hiring supervisor ought to search for
That’s a variety of mendacity. However hiring managers are onto them, saying they know a lie once they hear it.
“It’s their job to vet and weed out candidates, so the percentages of an applicant mendacity and never getting caught are fairly low,” says Simpson. “Virtually three-quarters of hiring managers can tell if somebody wasn’t telling the reality throughout an interview.”
The most important tell that an applicant is mendacity is once they clearly lack the data or ability when answering particular questions. “Over 7 in 10 hiring managers that we surveyed mentioned this was the largest signal {that a} potential worker is mendacity throughout their interview,” says Simpson.
Different indicators embody nervous behaviors, corresponding to voice modifications and fidgeting, and when an applicant’s response has an extra of detailed info. As well as to mendacity, there are a variety of red-flag behaviors that would go away a foul style in an employer’s mouth.
“These embody speaking poorly about previous and present employers, being detrimental or overconfident, and answering questions with an pointless quantity of element,” says Simpson.
Advertisements
What to do in case you suspect the candidate is mendacity
When hiring managers catch candidates in a lie, the most typical response is to dismiss them as a candidate. The Interview Guys survey discovered that greater than half of hiring managers wouldn’t suppose twice about rejecting a possible worker in the event that they had been caught in a lie. But when everyone ornaments, is that the suitable response?
It relies on the lie. Complimenting the corporate merely to achieve the employer’s favor, or overstating how a lot your values align with the group, is likely to be ignored, says Simpson. Overstating your expertise, nonetheless, will seemingly get you proven to the door.
“Typically talking, throwing in a white lie right here and there throughout the utility or interview course of is a dangerous play,” says Simpson. “That being mentioned, lies don’t essentially correlate to efficiency.”
