REVEALED: What do Brits really think about job interviews?
The British workplace has its pros – we’re prided by our politeness, tendency to apologise even if we’re not wrong and organise everything to within the finest detail.
We’re also the first to run to the treat table if there’s cake up for grabs, will happily make a sly, humorous dig at a colleague who makes terrible tea and aren’t shy of sending a passive aggressive email if we want to get things done.
All that said, to other cultures, our nuances can appear charming – or just downright confusing, whichever way you look at it.
Highlighted by the popular ‘VeryBritishProblems’ twitter page (a favourite here at Recruitment Grapevine) if there ever was a stereotype of how a typical Brit would behave in an interview (if they could), they might have just nailed it.
Honest job interview:
“What would you say are your key skills?”
“I don’t really know what I’m doing but I won’t cause any trouble”— VeryBritishProblems (@SoVeryBritish) March 13, 2018
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The post prompted several other Twitter users to share how they too, would answer the interviewers question, if they could be completely honest…
I have this remarkable ability to ignore the incoherent ramblings of less qualified, higher paid staff whilst simultaneously suppressing my urge to punch said staff in the neck.
— Andrew Erskine (@llowMeToRetort) March 13, 2018
Well, we all know the tea rounds are important…
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I have the ability to fully integrate and lead the development of hourly tea rounds? In my previous role, i managed to increase the consumption of coffee by 75%, whilst also inflicting the caffeine shakes in my colleagues
— John Macdonald (@jmcd31) March 13, 2018
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Sorry, I was doing research. *Group chat pings*
Im good at staring at my phone and looking surprised every time you catch me.
— Matador (@Tat_TvamAsi) March 13, 2018
Sadly, honesty wasn’t the best policy for this candidate…
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this is actually what I say in interviews, more of less. Might explain why I am, erm, ‘freelance’.
— Irena Barker (@IrenaBarker) March 13, 2018
Awkward…
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Honest job interview, question 2:
“What would you say is your greatest weakness?”
“Giving smart-arse answers to stupid, dull, unimaginative, trite, irritating, cliché interview questions!”— Martin (@StarlingMoss) March 13, 2018
Surely this is better than a full on row?
‘How do you deal with conflict?’
‘With an unhealthy dose of passive aggressive eye-rolling and tutting, of course.’
— Susie (@LittleSyko) March 13, 2018
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With the satiric post highlighting the troubling nature of job interviews, in that, they don’t prompt sincere answers, it also shows how the industry has instead opened itself up to lies.
Last year, 75% of hiring managers caught applicants telling lies on their CVs. According to the Moneyish report which found that candidates are not entirely honest on their resumes, more and more are lying. The 75% figure is up 20% from two years ago.
In fact, upon closer inspection, an Adzuna survey found that candidates were most likely to lie about their skillset, e.g. being proficient in Excel (43%), their work experience (39%) and their education (35%). The researchers found that recruiters and hiring managers were poor at spotting the lies, as 83% of candidates who told an untruth were never discovered. Almost all (96%) of CV liars said they would do it again – with 37% revealing they would be prepared to tell a ‘big lie’ to get their dream job.
So, what do you think, is it better to be ‘Britishly’ honest during hiring, or tell a few porkies to land the job? Tell us in the comments…
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