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Why Do Americans Lie in the Recruiting Process?

Do Recruiters Lie as Well?

I have observed that college students often lie about their qualifications, skills, and grade-point average in the hiring process. It seems the younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z) rationalize lying as being acceptable more than generations in the past. Some have told me that lying is acceptable because the firms they interview with lie to them as well. As the discussion below indicates, there is some truth to this.

According to a January 2025 survey from Resume Builder, 44% of Americans admit they've lied in the hiring process. That's nearly half of job seekers lying about an important element in the hiring process or failing to disclose relevant information in the hiring process. Here are the key findings:

  • 44% of Americans admit they’ve lied in the hiring process
  • 24% have lied on their resume, 19% in an interview, and 6% on their cover letter
  • Americans generally lie about their skills and abilities, years of experience, responsibilities in previous positions, and lengths of positions held
  • Additionally, 9% have lied about their disability status, 7% about their race and ethnicity, and 6% about their veteran status
  • 4 in 10 have landed a job as a result of lying
  • The majority say lying has helped them succeed professionally, including obtaining a higher salary

Recruiting

I was surprised to learn that another survey shows employers lie as well. Consider the following:

  • 36% of hiring managers say they’ve lied to candidates about the role or company during the hiring process
  • Of this group, 75% lie in the interview, 52% in the job description, and 24% in the offer letter
  • Most common lies are about the role’s responsibilities, growth and career development opportunities
  • 92% say they’ve had a candidate they lied to accept a job offer

The vast majority (80%) of hiring managers say lying is ‘very acceptable’ (14%) or ‘somewhat acceptable’ (66%) at their company.

Employer respondents say they lie for the following reasons:

  • “To protect sensitive company information.”
  • “To cover up negative information about the company.”
  • “To attract job seekers, some benefits are exaggerated.”
  • “To deliberately say things that will please the candidate”
  • “To make the job sound better than it really is.”
  • “To attract more qualified candidates.”

From an ethical perspective lying is wrong. No surprise here. The question is whether lying is ever acceptable. The answer is ‘no’, although I will admit there may be times when it is called for, but these are few and far between. For example, if a recruiter asks whether you know something about another candidate interviewing for the job, and that person is a good friend, it is better to say that you don’t know them well enough to answer rather than violate confidentiality and the loyalty obligation to your friend.

Some ethicists use utilitarianism to evaluate whether an intended action is right or wrong. They might weigh the consequences of taking an action such as lying. They would measure the costs and benefits of lying. The problem is it is a slippery slope. If we accept lying in one instance because of the perceived benefits, which may be subjective at best, then we can rationalize it in other situations.

Kantian Rights Theory holds that lying is always wrong. Doing the right thing should always be one’s action. After all, you wouldn’t want a candidate for a job that you interview to lie to you, so why would you lie if the shoe was on the other foot?

As a professor for 40 years, I have learned that students look for guidance on these and other issues and providing an ethical response could be a teachable moment. You can help them to make ethical decisions by discussing the following:

  1. What are the ethical issues?
  2. What are my alternatives?
  3. How might each alternative affect the stakeholders (prospective employer/employee, for example)?
  4. How might ethical reasoning guide my choice of alternative courses of action (i.e., Rights Theory, Utilitarianism, Justice Theory)?
  5. Evaluate the ethics of each alternative?
  6. Select the alternative that conforms best to the chosen ethical reasoning method?
  7. Make the decision.

This is just a broad-based model. Others are more specific. But the model does provide a mechanism for discussing the ethical reasoning methods, which are the key to making ethical decisions.

Finally, it is best to explain why you find some intended action wrong as well as discussing the rightness of a decision. Students need guidance on ethical issues. Their background and experiences are often limited and even counter-productive. Do not shy away from serving as a role model for your students. Many of them have not had ethical role models in their lives, and their ethics may be formed by social media activity. That would be unfortunate for sure.

Posted by Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, on February 4, 2025. You can sign up for his newsletter and learn more about his activities at: https://www.stevenmintzethics.com/.

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