# A prospective employer call you a liar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227 "2015-08-18T23:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/1 "2015-08-18T23:59:07Z")
How is one to handle that? It was over the college degree question, they said they knew I had a college degree. Made me want to say hell I should have balked and admitted yes I do instead of insisting on the truth multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/2 "2015-08-19T00:03:14Z")
> [@grude](#): > > How is one to handle that? > > It was over the college degree question, they said they knew I had a college degree. > > Made me want to say hell I should have balked and admitted yes I do instead of insisting on the truth multiple times. Um… did you initially say you didn’t have a college degree? And you do? And what truth were you insisting on? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/3 "2015-08-19T00:08:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Um… did you initially say you didn’t have a college degree? And you do? And what truth were you insisting on? I don’t, and claimed I don’t AKA the truth. They said they knew this was an obvious lie multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/4 "2015-08-19T00:38:38Z")
I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think it’s gonna be a great place to work anyway. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/5 "2015-08-19T00:57:01Z")
QFT. Lock the thread. We’re done here. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/6 "2015-08-19T04:20:07Z")
I’d say [Seinfeld] “Take the Degree.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/7 "2015-08-19T11:54:48Z")
What the hell were you applying for, village idiot? ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/8 "2015-08-19T12:04:13Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > What the hell were you applying for, village idiot? I laughed. And then I pondered whether or not that would be a fun job. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/9 "2015-08-19T12:05:47Z")
If you don’t have a college degree and a potential employer is insisting that you do (which is totally bizarre), I don’t see why you’d really wanna argue that point. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/10 "2015-08-19T12:08:46Z")
Are they trying to say they think you’re overqualified? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/11 "2015-08-19T12:12:52Z")
I’ve had a prospective employer in a job interview claim that I was lying about my previous salary. I wasn’t, but what really took the cake is that my ex-boss at my previous job now worked at the place I was interviewing, and had recommended me. It would have been incredibly stupid for me to lie about salary, because all they had to do was walk down the hall and ask ex-boss if I was lying. Needless to say, I didn’t take the position. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/12 "2015-08-19T12:26:48Z")
Tell them you have a PhD from the school of Rock and Roll. Wear a ducktail. Carry your axe. Demand a raise. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/13 "2015-08-19T12:37:48Z")
> [@Emiliana](#): > > I laughed. And then I pondered whether or not that would be a fun job. The key question is, how long did you ponder, assuming, of course, that you’ve finished. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/14 "2015-08-19T16:27:47Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The key question is, how long did you ponder, assuming, of course, that you’ve finished. Only briefly. I decided court jester would be much more fulfilling. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/15 "2015-08-19T16:33:02Z")
> [@Emiliana](#): > > Only briefly. Overqualified. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/16 "2015-08-19T16:35:31Z")
Jester hours can be tough, idiots usually only work during the morning and evening rush hours. Jesters do get to hang out after the feast and eat leftovers though. And really, the jester is just the idiot with a nicer set of clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/17 "2015-08-19T16:48:18Z")
> [@grude](#): > > How is one to handle that? > > It was over the college degree question, they said they knew I had a college degree. > > Made me want to say hell I should have balked and admitted yes I do instead of insisting on the truth multiple times. This wasn’t some kind of situation where they really wanted to hire you, but HR/somebody insisted that a degree was necessary for the position? A kind of "Gee, I’m sure I misunderstood. You _do_ have a degree, don’t you \? " But I’d expect some explanation in that case. Other than that, this seems really, really, strange. It didn’t feel like some bizarre test to see if you knuckle under, did it? Can you give us more context? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/18 "2015-08-19T16:57:21Z")
Very odd. For me, the first time an interviewer implied or stated I was lying would be the last interview I gave to that company. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/19 "2015-08-19T17:02:48Z")
There’s a curious HR manager out here (that would be…err…me) who wants to know if this unusual recruiting technique was successful. I’m always looking for a creative edge in recruiting. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227/20 "2015-08-19T17:08:12Z")
I had a situation come up in an interview probably about a decade ago where I wasn’t really called a liar, but the interviewer simply didn’t believe my answer. It was just out of law school and I was applying for a fellowship in DC. The topic of a research paper that I had recently published came up and I started discussing it with the interviewer. I mentioned some point of law, I don’t even remember what it was so long ago, and she said “I don’t believe that’s correct.” I said no, this is how it’s interpreted, and we went back and forth a couple of times before it was basically dropped as an “agree to disagree” and we moved on. I didn’t get the fellowship. And since that day I’ve always wondered exactly what happened. Was I really wrong and she was right? Was I right and she interpreted it as wrong because I wasn’t explaining myself or the legal situation properly? Or did she know I was right all along and just wanted to poke at me and see how I reacted? Maybe I should have defended myself more vigorously. Maybe I should have written her afterwards with evidence, backing up my supposition. Who knows? It’s ten years in the past. But still, I wonder… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-prospective-employer-call-you-a-liar/728227.md?page=2)