It is a well-documented fact that at least 2 out of every 5 applications contain one major fabrication. What the employer doesn't know can, and almost certainly will, have a tremendous impact on that organization!

Dr. Julian Cano, Ed.D, a Clinical Psychologist of 30 years, once said that we are all taught from birth both to lie as well as catch lies. He reasons that most people have the necessary skills and abilities to effectively lie to others and to tell when someone is lying to them in return. Dr. Cano adds that it can also be morally and socially acceptable to lie, but at the same time, unacceptable to indicate to others that they are being untruthful! This is absolutely true and it describes perfectly, a paradox specific to the hiring process.

Obviously, 40% of all job applicants feel it's OK to misrepresent the truth in one way or another. The candidate can easily rationalize to his or herself that they are lying in their own interest and that the deception puts no burden upon the employer; no one gets hurt in the lie. At the same time, the hiring professional thinks that it isn't polite to point out discrepancies in the applicant's description of his or her background, education, and prior employment experiences. In fact some people believe that the process of verifying this information is not socially acceptable because it begins with the presupposition that the candidate may not be telling the truth.

In order to find the best candidate for the continued success of an organization isn't it essential that the employer has accurate and detailed information regarding the ability of the applicant as well as his or her integrity? Absolutely! This is a universal truth:

Honest people build profitable companies, dishonest people tear them down.

That's why pre-employment polygraph exams were so popular! However, with the ban of pre-employment polygraph testing, employers were forced to learn new and more acceptable ways of eliciting the truth from job applicants. The science of "lie catching" and "deception detection" without technological assistance remained a mystery to almost every person charged with having to make a hiring decision. Myths and homespun tales describing the signs that someone was lying almost became a junk science.

The reality of identifying untruthful behavior only recently received academic validation. These techniques are now gaining acceptance and popularity within Corporate America. Specifically, the approach used to obtain the truth from job applicants is called an integrity interview. It is a non-confrontational and effective method used to foster an open and honest dialogue between the employer and prospective employee from the very beginning of the hiring process. The integrity interview has been proven to be both an ethical and practical method to identify and attract the very best employees available.

The integrity interview segment is a non-accusatory interview designed to elicit truthful information from the candidate and to gain an insight in to applicant's possible participation in behavior that might be detrimental to the requirements of the job vacancy. Applicants can then be judged on the basis of facts obtained through the entire prescreening process as well as admissions they may make. Specific information involving the following instances should be discussed with every candidate: