Employers - Keep it Real During an Interview

There are two types of employers - ones who tell the truth during an interview, and ones who don’t.

I’ve been on both sides of the interview table, and it’s disheartening when something untruthful happens, irrespective of which side you’re on.

Let’s take an example of how not to do an interview, especially if you’re an employer working for a company that’s aiming to go undergo some transformation using some tools and technologies that are still new to your company. Be honest about the current state and what work you expect the candidate to do.

Far too often an employer will say something like this:

We’re looking for someone who can help us leverage atmospheric pressures and natural gases to create an environment that doesn’t allow otherwise explosive materials to catch fire. We can tell that you have experience in this area. Leveraging what is available with the best in-class tools, would you be interested in helping us develop a ground-breaking solution to do this?

The candidate, who is looking for a job, and who has experience in this area, will say “yes”, out of excitement and optimism, if nothing else.

Fast-forward 3 months. The candidate joins the company, and is told:

Here’s a bucket, please find some water and start putting out the fires. We don’t have time to leverage your experience to solve the actual problem.

So you interviewed a scientist, but you’re asking them to be a firefighter.

What do you think the motivation of your new employee is going to be? How long do you think they’re going to stay with your company? What do you think they’re going to tell their friends and colleagues about your company?

Honesty is the best policy.

Are you honest in your interviews?