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How Honest Should You Be In a Job Interview?

Apr 13, 2019 |
Job-Seekers,  |
Mitchell Riley |

There’s no doubt that you shouldn’t tell major lies about your abilities and qualifications. You may get away with exaggerating your fluency in French but you shouldn’t lie about your inability to use technical software that’s crucial for the job, for example.

Sometimes it’s necessary to be honest, other times sharing too much may cost you the job.

So what exactly is “too much” honesty in a job interview?

Let’s take a look:

1. Oversharing is Overstepping

There’s a fine line between being your authentic-self and oversharing. It’s surprising how often candidates share incredibly personal details about their lives that interviewers aren’t interested in at all.

Interviewers interpret talking about bad relationships or sharing tales of personal lives as a way of gaining sympathy—it’s highly unprofessional.

Your future employers aren’t interested in your sob story; they want to know what you can bring to the table and how you’ll help their bottom-line.

Don’t bad-mouth your current employer and definitely don’t discuss private details of your life. The interviewer will assume you’re unprofessional and struggle to separate personal and professional life.

2. Avoid Sharing Details That Can Be Used Against You

It’s almost instinctive for a mother to talk about how she stopped working to look after her kids but to an interviewer it could show lack of commitment to their career.

Although it’s understandable why someone may choose to put their career on hold to raise a family, there are companies that would use it as a reason to hire another candidate instead.

It shouldn’t happen, but interviewers often have biases and prejudices that may prevent you from getting the job.

Be conscious of what you’re sharing at an interview and how your answers may be interpreted. Don’t give the interviewer any material that can stop you from getting the job!

3. Be Careful When Discussing Strengths and Weaknesses

Asking a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses is quite common in interviews; however people still struggle with answering these questions correctly.

There are candidates that are very boastful when talking about their strengths and can’t think of any weaknesses at all. Having confidence is good, but overconfidence makes you look like someone who can’t acknowledge their mistakes and take criticism.

The same way, revealing big weaknesses in an interview such as the inability to control anger, for example, will likely cost you the job.

Interviewers are searching for self-assured candidates which they can rely on. The best candidates are ones that show they can be valuable assets for the organization in the long-run.

If you’re a restoration company struggling to find talent, get in touch with us!

OPS Staffing is a talent acquisition company that offers recruiting services for fire and water restoration companies. We specialize in helping restoration companies find the best Project Managers, Estimators, Business Development Executives, Office Managers and other Upper Management professionals.

Contact us for more information.

Posted: Apr 13, 2019
Posted by: Mitchell Riley
OPS Staffing | + 1 (888) 482-6019

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