In any professional role, it’s sometime easier to stretch the truth or tell people what they want to hear. It may come to bite you later, but for recruiters, it’s easy to tell a little white lie to a candidate you may never see again after an interview.
10 Lies Your Recruiter May Tell You
Not condoning lying, but you’d be naïve if you thought it never happened. Here are some lies your recruiter may be telling you throughout the hiring process.
- We’ll be in touch. This is a very nonchalant way for someone to tell you what you want to hear without any concrete timelines.
- You’re great on paper. What the hiring team really means is that you’re not the best candidate for the role or they just don’t really like you.
- You’ll hear from us whether you’re hired or not or send me your resume — I’ll get back to you, promise. Although some recruiters really do try to communicate with every candidate, some just fall through the cracks.
- Salary depends on experience. Every company or contract role is going to have a ballpark number. They could think you’re too expensive or are just trying to hear your requirements first.
- We’re interested but are interviewing other candidates. In the fast-paced staffing for defense contracts, they don’t have time to be wishy washy – they either think you’re a good fit, or not.
- A mutual contact gave me your information, but they asked to remain anonymous. Really, this recruiter just stalked you on the open source.
- This opportunity may be a downgrade, below your experience, or might not sound too exciting, but it’s an amazing company that I’m sure will promote or pay you more later. This could be true, but most of the time, recruiters are just trying to encourage you to sign the offer and fill that open billet now.
- What other contractors are you interviewing with? It’s required that you tell me – but it will remain confidential. As a candidate, you are not required to tell them that information and really, they are just trying to see if you are speaking with competitors, or other companies on the same contract.
- There is nothing negative about this employer! Any negative reviews on online cannot be trusted. Take this one with a grain of salt. Some people are unnecessarily salty, but there may be some truth to the complaints from former employees.
- You should definitely take this offer because it is going to get snagged quick and you won’t find anything better. This is another scare tactic to entice candidates to sign an offer quickly – and something will certainly come along again if you are not quite ready to jump ship.
Don’t fall victim to pressure tactics. Next time you hear one of these lies, you can call the recruiter’s bluff.
