Introduction: A Controversy That Works
In a job interview, you should lie. In your CV? You should lie there, too. I know, this sounds like incredibly controversial advice, doesn’t it? Most career advisors will feed you clichés about “authenticity” and “just being yourself,” but my experience shows that the reality of the labor market looks quite different. Today, I want to answer the questions that many only ask themselves in secret: when should you lie, why is it worth doing, and where should you draw the line so you don’t overdo it.
Before we dive into the specifics, let’s establish one thing: for the purposes of this analysis, we are setting all morality regarding lying aside. We must look at the recruitment process as a cold, calculated business game. Lying is an inherent part of human communication—as the saying goes, “everybody lies.” Think about how many times you’ve lied in the last week. We all use small or large understatements to make our lives easier or to achieve a goal. In the professional world, this strategy is often simply necessary for survival and success.
Why Should We Lie at All?
The first and most important reason is the fact that the employer is not telling you the whole truth either. During a recruitment interview, a company presents a version of reality they want you to see. They often use generalities, paint visions of growth that don’t exist, or hide deep-seated problems within the team. What we define as a “lie” versus a “generalization” is often just a matter of semantics.
Secondly: other people lie. If everyone around you is using this strategy, then giving it up in the name of a misguided sense of honesty puts you at a disadvantage. If you are competing for a dream position against liars, and you play one hundred percent fair, you usually lose—unless your competencies are so exceptional that they outshine everything else. Job hunting is pure competition, almost like a sport. The question is: do you want to win this match, or just participate in it?
Lesson One: Your Previous Supervisors Were “Wonderful”
The first specific case where lying is not only advisable but necessary is when your previous boss or team was terrible. We often leave a job because the atmosphere was toxic, the boss was oppressive, or simply incompetent.
However, a social trap appears during the job interview. Your future employer wants to believe that you are a nice, positive person. And do nice people speak poorly of others? In theory, you could try to hide behind diplomacy and “positively framing difficulties,” but let’s be honest: the idea that being sincere about your former boss being an “idiot” will help you in any way is a fairy tale. Even if it is the absolute truth, saying it will not do you any favors.
Your new employer is not interested in your relationship with your previous boss. They are checking if you are a positive person and how you handle challenges. Therefore, even if your boss ruined your life, you say that the cooperation was okay, but some challenges arose that you dealt with in a specific way. This is a direct lie, but it is a lie you must use.
Lesson Two: The Organization is Just a “Challenge”
The situation is similar when the problem wasn’t a single person, but the entire company. Organizational chaos, toxic work culture, unpaid overtime, or lack of financial liquidity are real reasons to flee an organization. However, in a recruitment interview, your behavior should be identical to the case of a bad boss.
Don’t talk about how the company was tragic or how it “sucked the soul out of you.” Say that the organization was fine, but you encountered problems that you solved in a certain way. Again, the dilemma arises: what is a lie and what is an omission? For simplicity, let’s assume you’re just not telling the truth because that’s what the market requires. This might resemble Orwellian doublethink, where you must lie while maintaining a sense of being a moral person, but job searching is not a situation where transparency is the highest value.
The English Language – The Mythical B2 and the Courage to Bluff
Another area where it is worth “stretching” reality is the level of foreign language proficiency, most often English. The market standard is the B2 level. Many of us tend to downplay our skills, especially when we feel in a weaker negotiating position. This is a fatal strategy.
A good strategy is to overstate your value. This doesn’t mean you should demand millions without justification, but when you evaluate your competencies, rate yourself slightly higher than you actually are. If you understand English well but speak poorly, lie and say you have no problem with it. Why? Because when you join the company, it will likely turn out that half the team speaks with a tragic accent, uses only a handful of words, and no one sees a problem with it.
Of course, if your knowledge is limited to “Hello, my name is Paul,” you are taking a huge gamble and might “fall on your sword” during a technical test. However, it is always to your benefit to state that you use the language fluently. It’s worth simply memorizing a few key points about yourself, your work, and your hobbies to pass through the first filter without a hitch.
Competency Gaps – A Lie That Becomes the Truth
In today’s world, we are expected to acquire skills at lightning speed. If you are motivated, technologies like Excel or SQL don’t need to be studied for five years at a university. These are things that, with enough focus, can be mastered in two weeks.
This means you can handle a given topic between the interview and the actual start of work. If a recruiter asks you about a technology you’ve just started learning (e.g., you’ve read the course syllabus but don’t have practice yet), don’t say: “I just started, I know what joins are, but I haven’t done anything yet.” Say that you use the tool proficiently.
Usually, a week passes between the first interview and the technical test. That’s enough time to catch up on the gaps enough to pass the test, and then enough time to manage at work. In this way, a lie in the interview becomes your opportunity, not your downfall.
However, you must know the limits. If you say you are an expert in machine learning but have never written a line of Python code, it won’t work. The idea of effective lying is based on two pillars:
- Do you have a chance of not getting caught?
- Are you close enough to that world to quickly make that lie come true if needed?
If you want to be sure that your skills quickly catch up with your declarations from the interview, it’s worth checking out KajoDataSpace. It’s a place where, in one comprehensive program, you’ll find courses on Excel, SQL, Power BI, or Python, which will allow you to actually “use these tools proficiently” in a short time.
Money is a Taboo – Become a “Passionate Pro”
The last point is the issue of finances and motivation. For many of us, the motivation to change jobs is strictly financial, but in an interview, this should be framed in much softer words. Companies love to be seduced. They want to believe that you work for passion, that data analysis and reporting are things that absolutely thrill you.
There is a difference between being a craftsman who does their job well and a “total freak” who has no life outside of work. Unfortunately, companies often prefer the latter. So, it’s worth shifting your image slightly toward the ideal of a passionate professional, even if your main goal is a better rate.
In an interview, don’t talk about money as the main stimulus. Talk about growth, new opportunities, and the desire to impact reality. The recruiter wants to hear this, and you must wear the right mask in this theater if you want to win.
Why is Truthfulness Sometimes Your Excuse?
Finally, it’s worth asking yourself: why are we so afraid to bend the truth? We often create excuses for ourselves not to write a CV or go to an interview because “we aren’t that good yet,” or “we don’t know everything yet.”
In my opinion, this isn’t a matter of morality, but a fear of success or change. You hide behind being “too moral” to avoid giving yourself a chance to win. Remember that what happens after you start work has almost zero connection to what was said in the recruitment interview. At work, you will be judged by your results, not by whether you were 100% honest in the interview about your feelings regarding your previous boss.
Summary: Put on the Mask and Win the Process
Job hunting is a game of appearances in which both sides participate. If you want to achieve your career goal, you must learn the rules of this game. Lying in key areas—concerning previous relationships, generalizing company culture, language level, minor competency gaps, or motivation—is often the only path to success.
If you think these tips could help one of your friends who is currently struggling with recruitment processes, share this article on your social media. Knowledge of how the job market actually looks is priceless.
The article was written by Kajo Rudziński – analytical data architect, recognized expert in data analysis, creator of KajoData and polish community for analysts KajoDataSpace.
That’s all on this topic. Analyze in peace!
Did you like this article 🙂?
Share it on Social Media 📱
>>> You can share it on LinkedIn and show that you learn something new every day.
>>> You can throw it on Facebook – and perhaps help a friend of yours who is looking for this.
>>> And remember to bookmark this page, you never know if it won’t come handy in in the future.
You prefer to watch 📺 – no problem
>>> Subscribe and watch my English channel on YouTube.
Prefer to read in Polish? No problem.
Other interesting articles:
