The awful question coming at your next job interview

There is a tricky interview question that some employers have been asking. How would you handle it? (Image: Getty)

Job interviews are nerve-wracking as they are, especially for a competitive position. But how would you like to be asked what lies you have told?

Research firm CBInsights asked its newsletter readers for their favourite job interview questions, and one came back with an enquiry that demands brutal honesty.

"I had a manager who had previously worked in HR, and she told me that there is always one lie or omission on any CV submitted for a job interview," the reader said.

"It’s usually worth asking what that lie is, and go straight to the confessional."

The reader has asked this question in more than 50 interviews, and estimates an interesting answer was harvested in at least 40.

"I tell the interviewee that we know that every CV contains an omission or a lie, and to save everyone time we’d like to know where it is and get passed [sic] it."

"We get confessions about unexplained gaps, short employments that failed and were left off, even a brief sojourn in prison."

The candidate who did the prison time was hired, and showed herself to be a model employee after appreciating the trust tied to the admission.

The surprising strategy follows a survey last week that showed the six most common lies told in a job interview. Would those interviewees lie to this question?

CBInsights noted unusual questions are useful in seeing how candidates think on their feet, but they should be used with caution.

"Best practices dictate most of a job interview and assessments should be focused on skills and knowledge areas related to the job.

"Too many out-of-the-box questions can inject bias into a process."

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