How to spot a dishonest candidate in an interview

How to spot a dishonest candidate in an interview

Think about it, if there’s one type of person that almost all of us universally hate, then that person is most probably a liar. No one likes being lied to and dishonesty is considered as one of the most hated character traits of an individual. Nevertheless, being able to spot a liar is important if you want to have the upper hand in any sort of dealing, be it business or personal. However, if you’re a recruitment manager, then the talent to spot a manipulative candidate could be the difference between hiring an excellent individual or a person that’ll run your company to the ground. Check out some of the key points below, and see whether these will help you to spot a liar next time during an interview.

Start from the CV

1.Does the applicant have impressive promotion leaps? If the candidate has performed like a superman, with outstanding leaps in career promotions, then this is a red flag that you should be concerned of.

2.Does the resume look flawless? If the CV seems too good to be true, with almost ideal job related skills and experiences achieved in record time, then dig deep to find more.

3.Do the educational qualifications sound legit? Those impressive sounding degrees might be just that, a title to make people impressed. It’s never a waste of time to check those credentials.

4.Is the candidate a frequent job changer? Having a lot of career experience might be a good thing. However, working for a dozen companies in a short time is a thing to be concerned of.

5.Does the resume lack any references? References are important when you have to settle the candidate’s career claims. While dozens of references are not required, the lack of references should be questioned. 

Scrutinise their experience and skills

1.Test the applicant to see whether they have the knowledge: The best way to know whether the applicant has the required knowledge is to put them through a standard test to check their understanding.

2.Ask the candidate to explain their claims in more detail: If you feel suspicious about a candidate’s lavish claims, it’s best to get down to the details and ask them to give you more info.

3.Check the candidate’s social media profiles: Research has shown that recruitment managers often change their mind about an applicant after checking the candidate’s social media footprint.

4.Ask them the same question but in different ways: If you ask a candidate the same question in different ways, pay close attention to see whether you get a different answer each time.

5.Conduct a complete background verification: Sometimes the best way to be sure, especially for a high profile recruit is to do a thorough background check on them.

Inspect the personality traits

1.Check for dual personalities: Some candidates might show duel personality traits, being rude to the receptionist while being overly nice to the interviewer. Be concerned of them.

2.Do they contradict themselves? The candidate might say one thing at the beginning of the interview and then might say something completely different at the end.

3.Do they answer in third person for tough questions? People who lie will try to distance themselves from their lies by speaking in third person, avoiding words such as I, My or Me.

4.Is the candidate too vague when giving descriptions? Liars try hard to be too general and too vague when giving descriptions. They will try their best to avoid going into detail.

5.Does it seem like the applicant is reading out of a script? Liars who come well prepared might give off subtle clues. Appearing as if they are reading out of a script can be one of them.

Check for non-verbal signs

1.Observe their hand gestures: Liars can be detected from the hand gestures they make. These might include things such as changing their hand gesture, touching their face or scratching while telling the lie.

2.Detect abnormal eye contact and movement: While it’s true that casual liars may avoid eye contact, you should also remember that professional liars might do too much eye contact, just to grab your attention.

3.Do they lean away when answering? Leaning away or leaning backwards from you while making a statement is another subtle move done by those who want to make themselves less uncomfortable while telling a lie.

4.Notice the change of tone in their voice: A person who is consciously telling a lie to you might subconsciously experience a change of their voice that might be out of their control. Try noticing it to see whether they are lying to you.

5.See whether they talk too much: Notice when they try to impress by talking too much. Especially, whether they are trying to give too many details that you didn’t request in the first place.

Guest Article By: everjobs.lk

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