Job Interview Action Tip - Truth and Honesty

Job Interview Action Tips are short, quick and actionable tips that you can use right away in your next job interview.

Imagine yourself... sitting across the table from your future boss.  She asks you the one question about your past work experience that you used to keep you up at night before an interview.  That missing piece of experience in your otherwise great career.  You used to think the interview was over.  Now, you lean forward and answer the question with confidence, happy it was asked.

Integrity is the cornerstone of good relationships, and that comes from honesty.  Here’s how to make honesty work for you…

Be Yourself

You are are you.  There’s no denying it.  You can’t change you who are overnight.  You can’t learn a critical skill by glancing at a Dummies book in the parking lot before the interview.  We come to an interview as the people we are.  And when you present yourself, you should do it accurately and without reservation.  This means telling the truth about who you are, what you know and what you’ve done.

Honesty is Hard

When you’re presented with a tough question that you don’t know the answer to, you might be tempted to make something up or just try to BS your way through it.  You do this because of ego and desperation.  You do it because you want desperately to be evaluated in the best possible light so they will think of you as the model employee.  The perfect worker.  If you bend the truth to fit that mold, you’re more likely to get the job, right?

Wrong!

They Can Tell When You Lie

So, turn the tables a bit here.  Imagine you’re the interviewer and you’ve interviewed hundreds of people for the same role.  Maybe more.  You’ve asked some of the same questions to senior-level PhD staff interviewing for higher level positions and you know the answer pat.  Even better, you’ve seen hundreds of people squirm on the same question.  You know the signs of a lie… it’s why you have the job you do and why you’re paid good money to find the best people.

As the interviewer, you can see a lie coming a mile away.  You’re good at what you do.

The moral here is that if it was your job to be a human lie detector and  your performance review was based on the competency of those that you allow through interviews, don’t you think you’d be pretty damn good at it after a little practice?

Answer It with Integrity

So, you don’t know the answer.  Smile and say…

Sorry, I don’t know the answer to that.

That wasn’t so hard, was it?  Even better, why not extend and ask for permission to reframe the question around a related answer?

Sorry, I don’t know the answer to that.  It sounds quite similar, in principle, to another topic that I have done a lot of work in.  Do you mind if I talk a bit about “Topic X” as I think it relates?

Well, now we’re getting somewhere.  Another approach is to ask to extend the topic in the direction of something of equal complexity that you’ve recently worked on.

Sorry, I’m afraid I haven’t worked specifically on Active Directory, but I do have a fair bit of knowledge of the base protocol, LDAP.  Do you mind if I elaborate on that experience?

Keep in mind that not every interviewer will appreciate taking the interview outside of their own control.  It’s a good time to take a reading on how they feel about this kind of diversion.  If they did not seem to appreciate your elaborations, take it down a notch.  What’s most important, however, is to remain true and honest in your answers.  Your integrity will come through no matter what.

Notes on Body Language

Body language is always important in your answers, especially when you don’t know something.  If you show fear, uncertainty or hints at deception, you’re going to come off as disingenuous.  Those also happen to be the same characteristics of an incompetent person.  These negative feelings express themselves in your body language and simply say “I want to get out of here now!”

Instead of using an “I don’t know” to create emotional (and sometimes physical!) distance from your interviewer.  Relax.  Think about leaning forward and meeting their eye.  Be be natural and sincere.  Smile as you know you’re about to do a good thing. You don’t actually have to lean forward, but just feel yourself doing it.  Now give the honest answer.

In Closing…

Don’t forget why you’re interviewing.  You are interviewing to get an offer for the job.  If you are not the right person for the job, you want it to come out in the interview.  Let them get to know the real you.  What you know, what you don’t know.  Let it be a measure of the kind of person you are and what level of integrity and honesty you’ll bring to work every day.  That’s an interview you can be proud of.