Copyright (c) 2007 Mr Sital Ruparelia
“Sital, I often find people exaggerate what they did in
their previous roles and the kind of work they have been
exposed to. But we don’t usually realise this until we
have hired them – and by then it’s far too late.” What can
you do during the interview to find out if someone is
telling the truth?”
There will always be people that either exaggerate their
experience levels at interviews and others that will even
try to completely mislead you.
Here are 5 ways in which you can minimize the risk of being
lied to by potential employees.
1. Ask the candidate to describe exactly what their role
was.
“What specifically was your role within that team or
project. What were your 2-3 main accountabilities? And what
were you doing on a day-to-day basis?”
If someone gives you a generic answer (e.g. I was
project-managing) – keep probing until you have established
exactly what the role was on a day-to-day basis. You want
to know what their day looked like, who they were
interacting with, what systems they were using.
2. Ask situational (or competency) based questions that
seek out real examples.
“Can you give me a specific example of a time when you had
to deal with a major set-back during this project. Please
talk me through the situation, what you did and the result”
This type of competency question requires someone to
explain what they have actually done, rather than just
testing whether they know what they ought to do.
You can ask this question to cover many different
situations, e.g. how they handled conflict, managed an
awkward client, met a tight deadline or beat a difficult
sales target. Remember to ask: “tell me what exactly was
going on, what you did to change the situation and what the
outcome was.”
The reaction you get and the candidate’s body language
usually will tell you if they are being totally honest. If
someone keeps saying “we did this…”, then politely
interrupt them and ask them: “What specifically did you do
here? What was your actual involvement?”
You can ask as many of these questions as you like, until
you are quite sure that someone is telling a consistent and
honest story. Someone who is making it up or exaggerating
their responsibility will have difficulty being specific
and it will be very evident.
3. Follow up with probing questions.
Don’t just listen to the answer and move on – keep probing
and drilling down until you know exactly what happened and
the extent of their responsibility in achieving it.
“You say you were doing all the liaison with the local
businesses to get their support.  Who were these
businesses? How exactly did you do that?  What kind of
problems did you come across? Can you talk me through one
specific discussion with a local business that sticks out
in your mind.? Why does this particular example stand out?”
Don’t be aggressive – if you are, then their body language
is likely to change and you won’t get such open answers.
If you feel that you’re not getting the answers you need to
satisfy your concerns, you can always come back to the
topic later on.
4. Ask plenty of open questions.
“What, Why, How, When , To what extent..”
Questions beginning with these words cannot be answered
with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, so the candidate has to give a full
reply.
You only ask closed questions when you are looking for a
simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer – perhaps to confirm your
understanding of someone’s responsibilities, or even to get
an over-talkative person to shut up!
5. Watch the body language
When interviewing, if someone gets uncomfortable about a
particular situation, their body language often gives you
clues to keep probing until you’re sure you are getting a
genuine answer. Crossing the arms, hunching over, avoiding
eye contact, scratching a nose or ear, can all give a clue
that someone is being evasive.
But be careful not to place too much emphasis on body
language: the candidate might just be nervous or shy.
Ensure any judgements you make are based around a
combination of the above steps – and not just body language.
—————————————————-
Sital Ruparelia is the founder and principal of Authentic
Resourcing. Sital works with businesses that struggle to
recruit and retain people. If you’re looking for further
help on how to interview, then you may want to take a look
at “Interviewing Made Easy†e-book. This downloadable guide
will take you through the key steps to interviewing and
recruiting the right people every time. To take a look, go
to http://www.interviewingmadeeasy.com
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