Common Exaggerations Employers Tell in a Job Interview

Sometimes employers may be looking to hire a particular person due to the skills or experience they have. In cases such as this, an employer may try to talk up working at the company in order to attract this person. There might even be occasions where an employer might exaggerate some things in an interview to try to get someone to work for them. We asked employers to share some common exaggerations they tell people in job interviews, and here they are. We also heard from a few people who shared areas that they or others often exaggerate about when taking part in job interviews. Enjoy!

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"You can have work-life balance while working on this team."
"There is a fast career track from this position on up."
"You will be able to travel to wonderful places"

Dana Manciagli, Global Career Expert
Speaker, Consultant, Author of Cut the Crap, Get a Job

I'm a Resume Writer and Job Coach with ResuMAYDAY. Coincidentally, I have two clients that are interviewing for the same job right now. Because I adhere to my own strict confidentiality code, neither of my clients know about the other one. Each on has gone through one round of interviews. I spoke with each client right after their interview and each one said the interviewer said the exact same thing - "We have to finish out our scheduled interviews, but I have to tell you that I think you'd fit in great here"!

I was overjoyed for my first client when I heard that, but when I heard the SAME THING from my second client, I enthusiastically congratulated him but inside I was crestfallen for both of them. This is obviously the interviewer's boilerplate close, and he is on obvious people-pleaser!

I really hope that one of my clients gets this job, but honestly, I won't be surprised if ten other people have heard this same thing.

Lauren Milligan

Yes, I'm qualified in that area is the biggest one I used. It's always good to appear like you are more than qualified for the job when actually you are not. I often have told employers I am trained in a specific area without any type of knowledge or training but on the job training give you the experience you need for the job.

Natasha Carmon
Louisville, Ky.
Author

Where do people exaggerate and even lie? Where don't they? Education, compensation, duties and responsibilities, achievements, awards, length of employment, etc. Some people fudge dates to make themselves look younger. When I told one applicant that no one at his former company had heard of the "Executive Merit Award," he'd cited, he simply replied that was probably because after he'd won it three years in a row the company retired the reward in his honor.

One key: I always tell the candidate that I'll be checking out the resumes myself with a fine tooth comb. Then I ask in a completely neutral non-accusatory voice, "Is there anything I might uncover that's different from what's on here that you might want to explain?" It's astonishing what people will tell you then.

It's even more amazing what you might uncover when you start making the calls. Some candidates fudge their references by substituting the name of a company friend for that of their immediate superior. Call to check the reference and the friend tells you the candidate is cross between Jack Welch and Mother Teresa. That's when the fun begins, especially if the candidate wasn't smart enough to send the friend a copy of the resume. The friend is willing to vouch for anything but they can never be completely sure of the fabricated details.

"So you can verify the candidate made $125,000 their last full year there?" I'll ask, looking at the line on the resume that claims he made $70,000.

"It was right around there," the friend says, thinking he's being cagey. "Maybe a few dollars more, a few dollars less, but in that ballpark."

I make up a couple more "facts" the reference is happy to verify, round file the resume and move on to the next candidate.

If I uncover one or two discrepancies in a candidate I'd otherwise be interested in, I'll bring it up and give them a chance to explain. Otherwise, I never mention it.

Barry Maher has appeared on the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CNBC, and he's frequently featured in publications like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the London Times, Business Week and USA Today.

His client list includes organizations like ABC, the American Management Association, Budget Rent a Car, Canon, Cessna, Fox Cable Television, Fuji, Hewlett-Packard, Lufthansa Airlines, Merck, the National Lottery of Ireland, the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Government, Verizon and Wells Fargo.

His books include Filling the Glass, which has been cited as "[One of] The Seven Essential Popular Business Books," by Today's Librarian along with books like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and The One Minute Manager. You can find out more about Barry at www.barrymaher.com.

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