Honesty & Transparency

Honesty and transparency are two of the most crucial traits in any relationship, especially when it comes to the hiring process. I was recently reminded of this while working with someone interviewing for a role at a company I'm supporting. They were initially interested but decided to withdraw after their first interview. While this wasn’t the outcome we anticipated, it left a lasting impression on me.

I actually think this decision was incredible because it demonstrated a high level of professionalism, saved everyone time, and spares the recruiter the awkwardness and frustration of chasing after a candidate who suddenly stops responding or doesn't show up for an interview.

This kind of honesty and transparency is what we need more of in the hiring process – from both interviewers and interviewees.

Unfortunately, not everyone operates this way. I’ve had my share of unsettling experiences, too. 

A while ago, I was speaking with someone who had just finished an in-person interview. They told me they had two offers on the table. When I asked who the offers were with, the person admitted they made it up in hopes of speeding up the process. 

I was shocked. 

That was the last time I spoke with that person.

It made me ask myself: 

If someone isn’t honest in an interview, can they be trusted to be honest moving forward?

Then I started to think: 

What about companies? 

I've heard stories where companies weren't entirely transparent either, which can be just as damaging in the long run:

• “We have jobs after this” – but there’s no solid pipeline of work.

• “We just started looking” – but the job has been posted for years.

• “People love it here, we don’t have much turnover” – when, in fact, it’s a revolving door.

No one and no company is perfect, but we all have room to improve. And that starts with being honest and transparent.

If this resonates with you, whether you’re struggling to find the right candidate for your company or you’re looking for your next opportunity, let's talk. In the past two weeks, I've had two companies and eight job seekers reach out to me on LinkedIn.

March is heating up!

Now for Sami…

Sami’s Take: 

Honesty in the workplace is hard to come by. 

I wish it wasn’t this way, but it’s a fact I learned the hard way. As a neurodivergent woman, I’m prone to strict and sometimes blunt honesty. To me, lying is the biggest waste of time. People almost always find out the truth eventually. Once they do, work then has to be done to undo the damage of the lie. Lying only prolongs the inevitable and keeps us all stuck in place a little longer. 

But, why are so many lying in the first place? Is it because they’re just bad, dishonest, and apathetic? Or is there something bigger at play?

When I say I learned the hard way how often people lie it was a discovery following a series of job rejections and a lot of ghosting. When I finally had someone more professional take a look at my resume they asked me, “How much of this is bs and how much is true?” I was perplexed by the question. “What do you mean?” I asked them. “How much of this is a lie?” they repeated. “None of it!” I said. I was shocked by the mere implication. I couldn’t begin to imagine why I’d lie about my work experience. What good would that do? 

This professional quickly told me, “Oh, well, that’s why you aren’t getting any interviews or jobs. Everyone you’re up against is lying about their expertise. You’re probably more qualified than they are, but you gotta beef this up a bit to compete…” I didn’t take this seriously at first and thought I must have asked a sleazy person for help. But, as it turns out, they were right and I was going to continue struggling until or unless I was willing to make some stuff up to get ahead. 

And there it is- the underlying problem: everyone is trying to get ahead.  

In order to “get ahead” we have to see our peers as competition and be willing to push them aside for our chance at survival. We’re constantly thrown into resource grab after resource grab. Why is it this way? Is this really how the world works? Are resources really so scarce that we have to beat each other down and resort to falsehoods and war to gain employment at mediocre jobs that still won’t pay us enough to live comfortably and free? What is all this for?

It’s certainly not for our benefit, but it does seem to be for someone’s. When I brought a critical eye to the nature of the workplace in our society I found a sinister pattern. First, resources are not always as scarce as they seem, but many have been privatized by big corporations especially in the United States and many of those same people get to heavily weigh in on the going rate for those resources. Click here, here, and here for some examples. I wonder how much the people at the top of those corporations benefit from lying about their knowledge and information? And could they benefit from everyone beneath them needing to lie and keep secrets too? If you’re feeling lost at this point, don’t worry. I will explain. 

When someone tells a lie it’s because there is a truth they wish to keep a secret. In terms of the workplace, that lie is usually around experience and knowledge on a certain topic or perhaps with a certain software or maybe even licensing or education. Once the lie is shared there is now pressure to maintain it which often leads to another lie, or several. Where does it end? Is this person likely to also lie to gain promotion? Would they be willing to take credit for work they didn’t actually do? How much inefficiency is now being swept under the rug to protect all these lies? 

What happens when the lie is eventually found out? Is that person’s career now on the line? Quite possibly. But, what if there was something they could do to make up for this lie? Perhaps, they are now more malleable and controllable by whoever found them out.  Perhaps they will be more willing to accept mistreatment and to accept other lies by their coworkers and superiors. Perhaps they can be pressured into accepting less raises and less benefits and who knows what else. I wonder who benefits the most from employees not being able to fight for better wages?

Now, I’m not saying all workplaces are this way and I have been lucky over the years to find a few incredible companies with incredible and honest people. They were mostly smaller businesses with high integrity and happy customers. My movement out of those companies had more to do with needing higher income, moving, and/or shifting interests. 

What is my point here? We have a culture of dishonesty and it’s hurting us all. With so many things controlled by larger companies, it gives little power and resources to everyone beneath them leaving those beneath to scramble and fight for what stability we can find. I’m saying this issue of dishonesty isn’t necessarily our fault as individuals, but it is our responsibility to fix it. 

I know how tempting it is to bluff a little every now and then, but ask yourself, who is this lie helping? Is there something else that could be done to better help your circumstances and the lives of everyone around you? If we all took a harder look at this way of thinking and working, how much pressure would now be on everyone above us to do better by us? What happens to their power and control over us when they have less to hold over our heads?

This isn’t an easy problem to solve and I can’t say I have even come close to a good solution, but I do know that honesty is a much easier way to navigate the world and it is contagious. 

What do you think?

Rob + Sami

ZARRELLCO