During recruitment interviews, HR professionals would love to give potential future employees a 100% rating, but not for the reasons one would think of.
A research study from the University of Guelph has identified that 100% of employment candidates lie, stretch the truth, or exaggerate during the employment interview process. These results should have all HR professionals asking questions like:
- What conclusions can be drawn from this?
- Does this mean all potential employees are liars?
- Is a certain amount of lying acceptable?
- Is this a systemic issue with HR’s recruitment methods?
What should be done to address this pervasive lying from potential employees? The research does not provide many answers. The study, however, does suggest that the level of competition may play a factor in the tendency for the candidate to lie, but not in the way one would think.
The research shows that if there is a fewer number of candidates competing for a job position, the tendency to lie during an interview will increase. For more details, click here to read the CBC article.
Perhaps the only way to overcome this is with direct confrontation, where recruiters can leave a copy of this research for the candidates to read at the start of an interview, and at the end of the interview, ask the candidate, “Was there at any time during this interview that you lied, stretched the truth, or exaggerated?” If the candidate answers “no,” since 100% of employment candidates lie, now you will know the “truth”!
Discussion Questions:
- Research how to make employment interviews more reliable and valid. Make a list of potential ideas for improvement that you find the most beneficial.
- Imagine you are a recruitment consultant who is making a pitch to a potential client about why your recruitment methods are better than your competitors’. Complete a 5-minute presentation to outline your methods.
