Assessing the authenticity of candidates during a job interview
Articles for companies
Sometimes applicants do not tell the whole truth to secure a job. Naturally, this is not how you want to onboard new employees. It is essential for recruitment professionals to understand how to handle these nuances and assess the authenticity of applicants.
This article explores how to validate candidate claims during job interviews to make informed hiring decisions.
Common Lies and Their Consequences
Although most applicants approach job interviews with honesty, there are times when some may exaggerate certain aspects:
1. Skills and Experience:
Applicants may exaggerate their skills in a particular area.
2. Salary history:
A few cannot fully disclose their past earnings.
3. Reasons for Leaving a Job:
There may be cases where the given reasons are not entirely correct.
In some cases, applicants feel pressured to exaggerate their references during interviews to improve their chances against other candidates. Surprisingly, there are people who have done this and still perform well in their roles, leaving employers unaware of the bias.
It is important to realize that this can be costly for companies, in terms of both time and money, even though only a small percentage of applicants do this.
Moreover, employers and recruiters must accept that they may not be as good at detecting deception as they think. Signs are often overlooked, behavior is misinterpreted, and clues go unnoticed.
However, there are strategies to help you authenticate these claims.
During the job interview
The job interview is necessary to verify a candidate’s skills and experience.
- Assess Skills Actively
A competency-based job interview can help determine whether a candidate possesses the skills and experience listed on their CV.
In this approach, a technical expert participates in the interview to obtain details from the candidate regarding their responsibilities, skills, collaborations, and performance in previous jobs.
Questions asked here should not make the candidate feel like they are being interrogated. Encourage the person to relax, be open, and explain their experiences clearly.
In addition to exaggerations, this approach can also reveal skills and achievements that candidates may have underestimated. It is surprising how often people downplay their abilities during job interviews.
- Create a Fair Environment
Encouraging transparency is just as important as authenticating claims. It is not only about identifying irregularities, but also about creating a culture of honesty from the start. Once you start without such an environment, it becomes difficult to go back and try to create one.
An effective way is to practice “giving the truth to get the truth.” To make others transparent, you must be open yourself. This includes acknowledging the challenges within your organization and not just emphasizing the positive aspects. Be sincere when discussing the vacancy and the state of the company.
Moreover, you must make it clear that you are looking for the right match for the position, not a person without flaws. Allow candidates to admit when they do not know something or cannot perform a task, instead of pressuring them to present a perfect image of themselves.
Asking candidates if they want to add, change, or correct anything in their application can foster such open and honest conversations.
- Avoid trusting intuition
Although practice can improve an interviewer’s ability to assess candidates, relying solely on “intuition” is risky. If a candidate’s answers do not match your expectations, this may be due to miscommunication rather than deception. It is essential to remain objective and not jump to conclusions.
Consider a systematic approach that thoroughly requires validating your suspicions.
In addition to the job interview
In addition to job interviews, it is necessary to explore other sources to authenticate the information provided by a candidate.
- Perform Thorough Reference Checks
To confirm a candidate’s skills and experience, contact their references and verify their employment dates, previous companies, and duties. It can be helpful to ask difficult questions during reference checks to get a complete picture.
The technical expert can also determine whether the candidate has actually achieved what they claimed in their application, verify salary details, and confirm the reasons for leaving previous jobs.
- Be careful with social media
Social media profiles can be a starting point for verifying a candidate’s CV. However, it is crucial to be cautious when using social media. Unconscious biases and filters can lead to
incorrect interpretations of information found online.
Take Your Time
Good planning and assessment are essential to separate truth from fabricated stories. In recruitment, the goal is to gather useful information. Plan interview questions carefully to assess the key skills for the position. While the interview should encourage open discussion, it must also be well-structured to gain valuable insights.
Do not rush or improvise. Plan the conversation well and consider the purpose behind every question. Take the time to evaluate all information gathered during the application process and information from other sources. Quick judgments based on limited information can lead to incorrect decisions.
Discovering valuable information is essential for confident recruitment decisions. Implementing these strategies can create an open process that leads you to the best candidate for the available position.