A new survey from Resume Builder finds that 36% of hiring managers say they’ve lied to candidates about the role or company during the hiring process. Nobody who’s ever interviewed for a job will be the least bit shocked by that finding, but that doesn’t mean that candidates should tolerate the lies.
The survey found that the most common topics for lying concerned the role’s responsibilities, followed by growth opportunities and career development opportunities. It’s possible to find out when a hiring manager is less than forthright about any of those issues. But you will have to ask, and your questions will be a bit different from other candidates.
To uncover any dishonesty about job responsibilities, unless you can question current employees, you’ll likely need to proceed a bit circuitously. When someone lies about a job’s responsibilities, they’re generally covering up the unpleasant or frustrating bits. So your question to the hiring manager is, “Everyone experiences frustrations in their job, so could you describe the top three frustrations that your current employees have?”
This question works on multiple levels. First, the Leadership IQ study on frustrations at work discovered that 60% of employees say that their workplace frustrations are so severe that it makes them want to look for other jobs. The top four sources of frustration are workload, staffing, toxicity and management. Clearly, there are lots of frustrations out there, and you need to know what they are.
Second, a good manager knows what’s frustrating their employees. If a hiring manager can’t provide real-life examples of employee frustrations, as well as the steps they took to address them, it suggests that either the manager isn’t paying attention or they don’t take action. Either case should serve as a significant warning that you’re likely to face problems and issues in your role.
Also, be wary of empty platitudes about how their employees don’t get frustrated. Ambiguous and non-specific responses are just as concerning as no response at all. If a manager is genuinely attentive and proactive about their employees’ concerns, they shouldn’t struggle to provide specific instances. Not only should the hiring manager have examples ready, but they should be keen to discuss the measures they’ve taken to fix them.
To discover falsehoods about career growth, you’ll want to ask, “Could you describe some specific examples of the career growth some of your employees experienced in the past year?”
Not only do some hiring managers lie about career growth opportunities, but the research suggests that career growth is a fairly widespread challenge. In the study, Career Growth Or Stalled Progress, Leadership IQ uncovered that only 23% of employees always think they have the kind of training opportunities to foster career growth and advancement, and only 19% of people see a path to advance their career at their current employer.
Just like with the question about workplace frustrations, you’re listening for highly specific answers about the specific growth, training or career advancement experienced by real employees. You want to hear about Sally’s new certification and how that increased her position, or Pat’s taking the lead on the task force, or Sam’s promotion, or whatever else.
No job is perfect or free from frustrations. But what you’re looking to discover with these questions is whether this is a hiring manager who’s forthright and willing to work on fixing their problems. There will always be bumps in the road, but if you’re working for someone who’s willing to address those bumps, you’ll have a better situation than most.
Read the full article here
