A Little Lie? Why Fibs In Hiring And Workplace Happen and What You Need To Do

The workplace is complicated often by untruths from employers as well as employees. (Adobe Stock Photo)

The truth is on hold on both sides of the hiring process at many career levels, as the recruiter often offers misleading information about the job and perhaps the company. Potential employees often pad their resumes.

Does the employer’s white lie and candidate’s CV padding cancel each other out? Maybe each party deserves what they get because they were less than 100% honest and transparent.

“The #workplace is complicated often by untruths from employers as well as employees. #career”

In the Australian TV series, “Fisk,” that debuted in 2021, the main character, Helen Tudor-Fisk, tells some big fibs about her experience as a trial lawyer after a divorce and career upheaval in order to get hired at a low-budget law firm. The show, many report, is very funny.

The 2022 movie, “Emily The Criminal,” follows the lead character played by Aubrey Plaza, denied every job she applies for because of a DUI when she was in college, and an assault charge from an encounter with an abusive ex-boyfriend. She is distraught and broke and turns to credit card fraud that is very lucrative. This is supposed to be the happy ending. The scenes of her in job interviews are upsetting.

Read more in Take The Lead on lies at work

In real life, telling untruths about a job’s responsibilities doesn’t help anyone.

According to CNBC, 40 % of hiring managers lie about the job during job interviews. A recent survey from Resume Builder of more than 1,000 managers reveals, “The three most common lies were about the role’s responsibilities, career growth and professional development at the company. For example, an interviewer might say there are many advancement opportunities without sharing specifics about how employees work with different teams, or get promoted.”

They also lie about “compensation, benefits and the financial health of the business, often to cover up negative information — or attract more qualified candidates.”

“In real life, telling untruths about a job’s responsibilities doesn’t help anyone. #lying”

I know this to be true. In a job interview several years ago, I was promised it would be only 30 hours per week, so I could continue my busy freelance work. And I was paid less than if it would have been 40 or more hours per week.

The truth was the position required my presence at night and on weekends—adding up to way more than 30 hours per week.

If you flip through LinkedIn, you may notice some people you know who suddenly have new job titles that do not reflect what they really do. And gaps in a career—from staying out of the job market for health, parenting or elder care issues—are now visible as trying to launch a startup or freelancing or something else that can be checked easily.

Read more in Take The Lead on honest leadership

This is very common. Who will follow up and check every line and every reference? Some candidates go as far as asking friends to serve as references and fabricate experience, even if they are completely unrelated to any portion of the candidate’s career.

Fast Company reports that a recent survey by ResumeLab revealed, “as many as 70% of workers said they have lied on their résumés, with 37% admitting that they lie frequently, according to ResumeLab’s Job Applicant Behavior Survey of 1,900 workers. Three-quarters lied on their cover letters and 80% lied during the job interview.”

Stacie Haller, a career strategist at ResumeBuilder.com, an online resource for job seekers, tells Fast Company, “It’s disturbing it has become acceptable in our culture to lie just to get what you want. Just turn on the TV. People are screaming about everyone lying.”

Sure, many otherwise upstanding people admit that they are less than completely honest in the hiring process, and other not so true statements such as reporting an illness to take a day off work when not sick or augmenting what has happened with a client or colleague, perhaps fudging on outcomes. 

Taking a sick day or paid leave is globally a huge problem for companies.

“Reports show more than 145 countries in the world provide paid sick leave as an employee entitlement… Abuse of sick leave is calculated to cost companies in the United States around USD 1 685 per employee annually, for a total cost of USD 225 billion per year, News 24 reports.”

Still, there may be some in the workplace who routinely lie about everything in their personal and professional lives as a way of life.

“There may be some in the #workplace who routinely lie about everything in their personal and #professional lives as a way of life. ”

According to Very Well Mind, “Another example could be far more detailed and complex: a pathological liar may completely make up their ‘backstory’ and lie about where they grew up, what their parents did for work, and where they went to school. They may even claim to be related to an important historical figure or celebrity.”

Efforts to confront a person with these habits in the workplace may be futile.

Very Well Mind continues, “If you call out a pathological liar, chances are they’ll deny the lie. If you present them with any kind of evidence to show that a lie ‘doesn’t add up,’ they’ll likely come up with even more lies to explain or cover up the first lie.”

Fans of the Netflix series, “Ripley,” a remake of the film, “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” witness the terror such a diaboloical liar can create.

Hopefully, you don’t feel the need to share untruths to cover your tracks, or are the kind of employee or leader who is straightforward and authentic.

“Hopefully, you are the kind of employee or #leader who is straightforward and #authentic. ”

Read more in Take The Lead on a workplace culture of deceit

Unfortunately with the recent flood of AI possibilities, some professionals are lying about who is authoring what content. The Hustle reports that 70% of people are using ChatGPT to do their assigned work, and not telling management or their team leader.

New research has also found that the propensity to lie at work is generational.

“New research has also found that the propensity to lie at work is generational. #workplace”

A survey about lying by PlayStar of 1,306 people—half of them male, half of them female—in Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, found it’s an age thing, according to India Times.

The results revealed that “millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, were the most frequent in being dishonest, with 13% of them admitting to lying at least once every day.”

The report continues, “In contrast, only 2% of baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964, confessed to telling a lie once a day. Surprisingly, results show that both Gen Z,—born between 1997 and 2021—and Gen X—born between 1965 and 1980—had a similar rate of daily dishonesty, with only 5% admitting to lying every day.”

Of course, lies that affect no one deleteriously can be forgiven if not forgotten at work. It’s the big fibs that can harm a team or an organization that may signal the end of a career.

When the lies are coming from the top, it is difficult to feel comfortable about your organization’s leadership, culture and your future there.

“When the lies are coming from the top, it is difficult to feel comfortable about your organization’s #leadership, #culture and your future there. ”

A recent Reddit post that garnered 2,000 responses on lies leaders tell employees revolve around a few key issues. “People shared great examples of office developments that may signal a company being sold or future layoffs. They also exposed how employers may manipulate employees to work more hours or do a job that isn’t theirs by dangling a promotion in front of them,” Upworthy reports.

Compensation, paid time off, work responsibilities, rumors, loyalty demands and work-life balance promises are often misleading or untrue, according to Upworthy.

But you need not jump in and twist the facts for acceptance. Being an honest colleague in a work culture with leaders who are upfront and transparent is the best position to have.  

“Being an honest colleague in a #workculture with #leaders who are upfront and transparent is the best position to have.  ”

Leadership Takeaway of The Week:

“It has become acceptable in our culture to lie just to get what you want.” — Stacie Haller, career strategist at ResumeBuilder.com