This seems like an exaggeration, which it is, but it has a tint of truth in it too.

Think about it: When you were a candidate looking for a job, you exaggerated your skill set to get the job. It’s natural.

“Fake it until you make it!” is one of the mottos of our culture, for better or for worse.

So what should you do as a Hiring Manager? Never hire? Never grow your team? Just stay in one place or worse, lose staff as time moves forward?

No, that would be a horrible strategy that would doom you to lose your team.

The best answer is to adapt to the environment.

You know that candidates lie to get a job so you take everything they say with a grain of salt.

Or with a huge helping of salt. Or with a jug of salt 🙂

And always double check.

Have them do a coding challenge if they are a programmer. Give them other tests pertaining to your industry. Screen them with your best people to see if they can catch discrepancies. Do what you can to confirm their statements and achievements.

Once you have done everything you can to screen them and you still want to hire them, then hire them.

You are naïve if you hire people with your eyes shut not knowing what will happen.. that they can lie to you and you hire unqualified people.

However, if you have checked and double-checked them multiple times and then you still hire knowing what can happen, that is not being naïve. That is being brave.

And brave men and women make the world a better place.

Also, if it does not work out, you can always let the person go and hire again learning from your past experience and making the process even better.

So, do not be scared of candidates that exaggerate their skills. Only be scared of missing the chance to hire. Because you need to grow your team to make it even more successful.