Job interviews are a lot like first dates. When you're up for a job, you might be tempted to fib or put in extra effort to make a good impression on the person sitting across from you.
Turns out, candidates aren't the only ones stretching the truth. Nearly 40% of hiring managers admit to lying in job interviews, according to a recent survey from Resume Builder, which polled over 1,000 managers in August.
The three most common lies were about the role's responsibilities, career growth and professional development at the company. For example, an interviewer might say there are many advancement opportunities without sharing specifics about how employees work with different teams, or get promoted.
Interviewers said they also lied about things like compensation, benefits and the financial health of the business, often to cover up negative information — or attract more qualified candidates. "There might be some nuggets of truth in there," says Julie Bauke, chief career happiness officer career advisory firm The Bauke Group, "but there's such a desire to get people in the door that they perfume the pig and exaggerate."
In most cases, the deceptions worked: 92% of hiring managers said a candidate they lied to accepted a job offer. It's hard to catch an interviewer in a lie, but these are a few red flags you can watch out for:
They discourage you from talking with other employees
Interviews are supposed to be a two-way street. So if the interviewer seems agitated, dismissive or defensive when you say you'd like to speak with a current employee, that's a red flag, says Bauke. It could indicate that they don't trust their employees or aren't confident in their company culture.
In a job interview, "hiring managers can more or less control the narrative, but most employees will be 100% honest when you ask them what it's really like to work at the company," Bauke explains. "Sometimes, that doesn't work in the manager's favor."
They talk in circles
Chances are, when an interviewer is lying, their answer will leave you more confused than you were at the start, says Chelsea Jay, Michigan-based career and leadership coach.
Pay attention to how often an employer contradicts themselves, especially in response to a simple question, like "What are the hours like?" If they use a lot of uncertain words like "but," "possibly" and "might," that could be a red flag.
"It's the biggest tell that an interviewer's lying," Jay says. "If they were being transparent, they'd address the question directly, but by talking in circles, they might be trying to buy time to figure out what they're going to say next, or distract you from the truth with superfluous details."
They dodge your questions
Interviewers who speak very little can be just as concerning as ones who talk too much. Jay says this is another common deflection tactic.
"A hiring manager who says they don't know certain details about the role is probably hiding something," she says. "If you ask someone what the hiring budget for this role is, and they tell you they haven't decided yet, that means they're planning to lowball you."
Avoiding candidates' questions in an interview can also be a sign of a bigger problem with the company's culture.
"To me, it signals that the company is disorganized and not taking their hiring process very seriously," says Jay. "It also shows that you may have issues once you're onboarded as well … that things might always be up in the air."
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