Should You Lie in Your CV Or Interview?

01 April 2016 Peak Recruitment

Resume close-up

The interview room is a place where you cannot be casual with the truth. A misplaced lie during the recruitment procedure could have catastrophic effects. An interviewee should only take informed risks. In the Interview room you have to be fully prepared for the type of questions you are likely to be asked so you can offer an answer that will earn extra points for honesty and bear further investigation.

Lying Is Intrinsic to A Healthy Social Infrastructure

People naturally find it difficult to evade telling lies now and again because the capacity to lie is actually a necessary and intrinsic part of the human social infrastructure. Little white lies are so fundamental to our everyday life that we rarely give them a second thought. Acceptable lies are told for good reasons – to cement relationships or to ensure another person is not hurt (“that gift is what I have always wanted”, “oh, what a pity I’m washing my hair”, “no, your derriere does not look big in your highly expensive new dress, my love” etc. etc.)

At work, we may also tell lies to enhance our status at work, to give ourselves more time in completing a task, or to get away from work in order to balance our family and personal needs with work requirements. We run risks here. We know that if that alleged tummy bug is found out to be an accomplice to a duvet day, we may find ourselves under the duvet longer than we would probably like.

But a lie told in an interview could sabotage your chances of winning the position, it could place you in a situation where you are asked to elaborate on skills you do not have and at worst, if you do eventually win the job, it could ultimately lead to you being fired.

Think Twice About Lying in Interviews

At Peak Recruitment, as with all other businesses recruiting new employees, the panel will obtain references from past employers to substantiate your resume and to clarify what you have told them in person. If those two factors do not match up – that’s the end of the line. The feeling is likely to be – if you have lied once you can do it again – and what lies have already been missed? Anything that comes out of your mouth can now be taken with a pinch of salt. Whereas all employees will be looking for different skills and experiences, the essential factor they will all be looking for is trustworthiness.

You may see the perfect job you have always wanted but if it is likely you are going to have to lie through your teeth to get it, you really are wasting your time and the employers time. You may lie about a skill on your CV, but what if you are asked to go into more detail about those skills in the interview? You are going to come out of it battered and bruised. You may well take a knock to your confidence for the next interview.

Lies Will Eventually Catch Up with You

And those little lies may well follow you for a long time – way after the interview process itself. Let’s suppose you actually get that dream job after you have successfully fibbed about all (or even just some) of your skills, and experiences. When you actually start the job, the work environment will reflect that tense interview scenario. Day in and day out you as you try to associate with and keep up with your peer workers, will find yourself desperately trying to prove yourself, remember what you have said in interview and on your CV and watch your back. Eventually the truth will out.

If your lies are discovered, you could end up being fired. Apart from the trauma of this embarrassing situation, it makes the chances of getting another job ten times harder. Don’t forget, your next prospective employee will be going to your previous employer for a reference…

Lies of omission can be as bad. We all have skeletons in the cupboard but to paste over them when references and criminal record checks are bound to bring them to the fore is also blinkering yourself to the obvious.

Start by Being Honest with Yourself

The first person to be honest with is yourself and the solution again is to prepare for those awkward questions. By being upfront and honest you are instantly giving yourself extra points. Someone who is seen to be forward with the truth, even when it could harm their overall interview, is necessarily seen as honest. But the real key to a scorching interview is becoming an expert on phrasing the truth.

For instance, one of the most popular questions in an interview is “What are your greatest weaknesses?”. The most effective way of answering this question is to take a weakness which you have worked on in the past and have since turned into a strength. Even better, one you can evidence in your employment history.

You need to look at all those weaker points in your profile in the same way. Sit down and write a list of all those areas which you feel could be a sticking point in an interview. How can you be honest about their existence without letting yourself down? If you can turn it into a real positive, you have a double whammy. Someone who is honest about themselves, is trustworthy, is self-aware and works on their weaker points to be better at their job role.

Now that’s quite a result.

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Peak Recruitment is the leading recruitment agency in Thailand. A human resource specialist, our pioneering methodology and commitment to deliver exemplary services has placed us first for executive recruitment in Bangkok. As a team, we offer a distinctive approach that you just won’t find anywhere else in Thailand. For contact information click here