5 Things You Can (and Should) Lie About on Interviews
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
What can you lie about on an interview? When should you lie on an interview? Using an example from career coach Anna Papalia I outline 5 things you should lie about on interviews.
[00:00] Intro
[00:55] Lie about where you see yourself in 5 years
[01:11] Lie about why you’re looking
[01:31] Lie about how you feel about your current boss and co workers
[02:01] Lie about your hobbies
[02:08] Lie about your title and job description IF
[03:28] Outro
There are five things you can and should lie about on interviews. I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. People hire me for no BS career advice and coaching globally. It’s you and the lifecycle of your career. So it’s job search, hiring, more effectively, managing and leading better, dealing with workplace issues, the lifecycle of you and your career.
Business Insider, and a number of other sites have picked up on a video done by Anna Papalia. I hope I’m pronouncing her name correctly, on Tiktok of all places. And she talks about five things you should lie about on interviews. Now, I’m going to modify one of them. It’s actually the last one she cites. And I’ll give you her language and mine. Okay?
The first thing she says you should lie about is where you see yourself in five years. No one wants to hear that you’re going to be in grad school, or married and having babies. They want to hear that you’re going to be working, that you’re going to learn and work hard and get ahead.
Number two is lie about why you’re looking. They like to hear answers like I’ve outgrown my position. I’m looking for a new challenge. Instead of saying, I hate the culture around here. It is cutthroat, whatever it is, you might say critically about the organization, they don’t want to hear it.
Third. Lie about how you feel about your current boss and co workers. Never, ever criticize your colleagues never criticize your manager. The fact that they’re a micromanager, you don’t know who that manager is that your interviewing with now, and they hear that you’re complaining about micromanaging? Well, they may think that their version of management is going to be micromanagement for you. So don’t bother with that.
Number four, lie about your hobbies. Pick hobbies that sound professional and interesting.
Lastly, and this is the one where I’m going to change her language a little bit. Lie about your title and job description. Now she says, especially if you’ve been working above your title and job description. I’m going to say if you’ve been working above your title and job description, the idea here is if you’ve been quietly promoted, and thus, you’re not being paid more, but you’re doing a higher level work, you deserve to be compensated for that. And thus, being able to say to someone, ‘I’ve been functioning as a manager, or an associate manager or a project manager for a team of four, and I’m still at a paygrade where I’m being treated as an individual contributor.
So, you know, that’s the one time I would say it’s okay to lie about your title and job description. So you describe what it is you do, you use the phrase ‘functioning as a. …’ So this way, if they want to dig in, they can if they know you’ve indicated you’re functioning as one, you’ve described what you do, and they’ll hear very clearly that what you’re doing is functioning in this role. You’re not saying you’re in this role.
So I hope you found this helpful. I’m Jeff Altman. Visit my website, TheBigGameHunter.us There’s a ton in the blog that can help you. Plus, you can schedule time for Trusted Advisor Services where I answer questions from you, or one one on one coaching. I’m pretty close to launching a group program, but I’m not making that available yet. So keep an eye out for that. And I’ll just simply say, I want to help you.
At my website, TheBigGameHunter.us There’s a ton in the blog to help you. Plus you can find that about my video courses, books on Amazon and guides. Again a lot there to help. Lastly, connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. Have a terrific day and most importantly, be great!
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. He is hired to provide No BS Career Advice globally. That can involve job search, hiring staff, management, leadership, career transition and advice about resolving workplace issues. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2500 episodes.
Website: www.TheBigGameHunter.us (schedule a paid coaching session, a free discovery call or ask questions using my Trusted Adviser Services)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter
Courses: www.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses
Main YouTube: www.JobSearchTV.com
No BS Job Search Advice Radio Podcast: anchor.fm/nobsjobsearchadviceradio
Video Podcast of No BS Job Search Advice Radio: Spotify
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffaltmancoach
Medium: jeffaltmancoach.medium.com
Resume & LinkedIn Profile critiques www.TheBigGameHunter.us/critiques
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