Job interview questions have been shown to have the potential to catch liars, and billionaire Elon Musk is putting them to use. New York PostIn 2017 Tesla and SpaceX revealed that they asked all their candidates the same interview question. The question is “Tell me about the most difficult problems you’ve worked on and how you solved them”. Mr Musk claimed this question helped him catch liars and now a study has backed up his method.
according to PostThis question falls under the ‘asymmetric information management’ (AIM) interview technique, which is designed to provide the interviewee with a way to demonstrate that they are telling the truth by elaborating on their experience. The study reports that the AIM approach “enhances verbal lie-detection by encouraging truth tellers (but not liars) to divulge information.”
According to research published in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, there are several ways to spot a liar. If an applicant gives a detailed answer to a question, he is more likely to be telling the truth, compared to someone who gives a vague answer. “Small details are the lifeblood of forensic investigations and can provide investigators with facts to examine and witnesses to question,” wrote Cody Porter, one of the study’s authors.
“If they give a more detailed and lengthy description of the incident, investigators will be better able to determine whether they are telling the truth or lying. On the contrary, those who lie want to hide their crime,” Ms Porter said.
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“This means that they are more likely to strategically withhold information in response to the AIM method. Their assumption here is that providing more information will make it easier for the investigator to catch their lie, so instead, they provide less information,” he said.
According to the Post, although Mr Musk uses the AIM method to narrow down the number of applicants, he looks for employees who show “evidence of extraordinary ability”. To ensure they match his CV, the billionaire said he conducts interviews that let him know the candidate is really who they say they are. “If there is a track record of extraordinary achievement, it is likely that it will continue in the future,” Ms Porter said.
