Recruiting to find the right employee is hard enough. I know because I’ve filled over 1,000 positions. Nearly every day, I talk to job seekers. Unemployed. Employed. Underemployed. Doesn’t matter the employment status. They’re looking for something better…
Want to know why?
They were lied to in the interview. Yep. Out-and-out lied to. [Sigh.]
I wouldn’t think much of it, but there are too many examples of job seekers who can cite how they were told one thing and then ended up with something else once starting at the company. Here are two recent and real examples of people who were lied to in the interview and discovered something totally different upon starting.
Example 1: Six months into the job and Joe Employee finds out that the bonus structure doesn’t actually start until he’s there for 1 year.
He was told in the interview that bonuses would be part of his first year salary. He worked his buns off to meet the goals of the bonus structure… Only to find out that he wouldn’t be eligible for bonuses until AFTER he’d worked for a year. That in that second year, he could work to meet the bonus requirements.
How hard do you think he’s going to work, now?
Example 2: Day one of the new job… guess what?! They want you to do something totally different than what was discussed in the interview.
Wha-what?
You gave notice to your previous employer. It’s day ONE. And NOW they tell yhou about the different duties?! What if you don’t want to DO that? What if you don’t know how to do it? What if those duties don’t align with where you want to go with your career?
Would’ve been nice to know BEFORE starting, right?!.
Now, are you going to look for another job again?
Managers, I recognize that a job can morph and adjust over time. In fact, it probably should change. It’s quite normal to move the employee into another role altogether. But, if you want to avoid disgruntled employees, don’t lie to them in the interview.
Just be honest and up front during the interview. Doing so will free you up from dealing with morale issues later on… Not to mention will help with eliminating some turn-over.
How have you seen lies during interview in your workplace?