7 Ways to Tell if an Interviewer is Lying to Your Face

When you go to a job interview it would be great to know what the interviewer is thinking instead of just what they’re saying. Are they actually impressed with your resume? Will they really call you back soon?

By learning to read faces you can know when someone is being sincere or shallow. Studying subtle changes in expression makes it easier to discern when someone is being truthful or trying to conceal another emotion.

As people interact with one another they project different feelings or emotions to one another through facial expressions. Often groups of people involved in a conversation will assume the same expression as they unconsciously mimic the emotion of the moment. However, how they truly feel will slip out sporadically in facial flashes of raw emotion called micro expressions.

There’s no way to fake or hide them because they’re involuntary subliminal messages people naturally send out. Most times the messages go undetected on a conscious level but people can practice spotting the signals and study how to discern the different things they see.

While it comes naturally to some people, and others dabble in the practice for fun, the science of studying micro expressions is growing. Government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, educational and medical professionals are all using consultants like the one the popular show “Lie to Me” as standard business procedure when hiring, firing and in negotiations.

You may not be a seasoned pro but being aware of the basics will help you navigate through your next interview. The human face makes over 50,000 different individual expressions and the most sincere ones pass as quickly as 1/25th of a second to 1 full second. It can happen any time too, at the beginning, middle, or end of a false facial façade. If you want to practice peeking behind the masks that people put on you need to know what to look for, like the fact that a fake smile uses an entirely different set of muscles than a genuine one.

Concentrate on identifying the following 6 basic emotions and you’ll be on your way to becoming a human lie detector:
 

1. Sadness
2. Contempt
3. Disgust
4. Fear
5. Surprise
6. Anger

Even if you’re not comfortable reading an interviewer, be aware they are probably reading you. The best bet is to stick to the truth.

Are you able to tell if people are being sincere? What’s something you’ve noticed people do when they are lying? Let me know in the comments below.


By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for Nexxt, she is co-founder of design and promotion company. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.