As it turns out, people tell quite a few lies in a single, brief conversation. A study about lying published in the June issue of the Journal of Basic and Applied Social Psychology, found that in a 10-minute period, 60% of the people they studied lied at least once. Of those people, the average number of lies was three times in that 10-minute period.

University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert Feldman, who conducted the study, said in a National Public Radio interview that people lied about all sorts of things.

They agreed with someone just to make the person feel good. But then there were whoppers such as talking about awards they had never received or discussing places they had never been. One man said he was a member of a band that had just received a recording contract.

All the people in the study were given basic instructions. Some were told to get to know the person they're talking with. Others were told to try and present themselves well or as likable. Either way, the results were the same.

Why so much fibbing? In a lot of cases, said, Feldman, "People are telling us what we want to hear or are presenting themselves in a way that they want to present themselves."

Job interviews are no exception. Stretching the truth occurs frequently in job interviews (and on resumes) because of the first issue he stated-telling people what we think they want to hear. Job hunters constantly ask me, "What do interviewers want to hear?"

Approaching an interview like this will put you in the wrong frame of mind. If your goal is to tell people what they want to hear you might be tempted to exaggerate--even fabricate-your credentials. At the very least, you'll come up with some hollow and insincere response.

The better question to ask is: What do interviewers want to know? That's easy. They want to know:

• who you are
• why you're looking for a job
• what you know about
• whether you can do the job
• what kind of experience you've had
• what you'll cost
• what you're going to do for them

With some practice, you can and should be prepared to answer these questions. That's not to say that you won't get caught up in a lie when you respond. You may not even realize it when you're talking. In Feldman's study, most of the people said they hadn't lied at all in the conversations which were videotaped.

But when they watched the videotape of themselves, they were surprised to see the number of lies they had come out with in a very short period, he said..

In your zeal to make a good impression, remember that you want to be seen as trustworthy and likable. Not a liar.

© by Andrea Kay