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Why Do Employers Lie In Interviews?

This is a very common subject that many of us have already experienced. But when you realize that half of what has been said at interviews is actually a lie, you are already at least six months in the company, you have already started some project and it wouldn’t be appropriate to leave the company at that moment.

Why is this happening?

First of all, let us see how the usual interview process looks like in software development companies.

First round interview in most of these companies is an interview with HR. This is the first insight about the company. A person who works in HR is usually someone who, in most cases, doesn’t understand what the software is and how the software development process goes. Big respect to those companies where HR knows these things. This phase usually contains some standard questions about your personality, what do you like about the company, how this company is something that you are actually looking for, where you see yourself in five/ten  years etc… In this stage you will have a very small insight about the company. Probably you wouldn’t get answers to some of your concrete questions. Everything will be on the high level, without concrete answers, but it seems that it is the way things work. In the short term, a lot of talk without actual meaning. 

Another thing that can be even worse than this is that you talk with the recruiter. He or she will just talk about that one company whose name they cannot tell you in this first stage, but the company is a leader in the software industry and a great employer, and they assure you this is the chance you shouldn’t miss.

If you manage thru the first round interview, then you will probably be faced with the technical part of the interviewing process. Things are getting serious now. This part is usually conducted with someone who is a team leader or senior software engineer. And, from my experience, this is a time when you can have a pleasant chat with someone who comes from the same world, just like you. Both sides can benefit from this and even learn some things from each other. This interview usually contains some coding tasks, some questions about software development, design patterns, your opinions on some things in the software industry, etc... In this stage lies cannot be unnoticed, because you are talking about real things. Things mostly cannot be interpreted by the speaker like he wants. They are as they are. I mean, you cannot say that one design pattern is actually something else.

If you have successfully passed previous parts, you can expect one more talk with the manager. Now comes the hardest thing. Why? Because we usually don’t have experience in negotiation because we code , right? On the other hand, managers here are way better than us because their job mainly consists of negotiations. Many of them will try to represent their company as something where you should be proud to work in because they are great employers with equal opportunities to everyone. In their words everything is ideal. But, as always the real truth is somewhere in the middle. 

Why do they lie or avoid telling the truth?

This cannot be treated in one way and a deeper look at the whole situation should be taken.

On the one hand, managers tend to think about their company like something that is partly or entirely their creation. If something is your creation, of course you will say it is the best, right? What do you think about the code you write? So, if we put things in this way, then the lie is not an intention. It is a lack of ability to see the wider picture. On the other hand, it could be that they do this intentionally because they think you will get into a trap, and when you realize that something was a lie, it is too late. You are already there in the middle of some project, accustomed with your environment and colleagues, and it is harder to leave then.

How to see if something is wrong during your interview?

Good approach is to pay attention to your interlocutor's speech, voice and body language. It would be very strange if everything is ideal or close to being like that. If that is the case, that is the first sign something is wrong and you should ask some questions that they don’t expect at that moment. In any case, you are at an interview and not at some presentation when you are just sitting and listening. Be an active participant in your interview, not just someone who answers questions.

Another thing, body language is equally, if not more important than speaking in terms of understanding what another person feels. Try to keep eye contact to see eye movements of your speaking partner. This can tell you more than you hear from them. Watch the position of their body. How they sit in the chair, position of arms, etc… All these signs can be helpful to you when you are making a final decision. A lot of good books are written on the subject of body language and you should definitely inform yourself about this topic.

Of course, all of these things cannot be a guarantee that you can’t get into the trap of starting to work for a bad company, but at least it can increase the probability for you to see and recognize a lie.


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