The night before the interview – candidates reveal their biggest fears

Over a third of people have sleepless nights before an interview worrying about the lies they have told on their CV.

As the job market gets more precarious, there is an increasing number of candidates who fib on their CVs in order to secure an interview.

This is according to a poll by interview skills training website Interviewgold.com, which found that for 35 per cent of people, their biggest nightmare would be getting caught out.

“Lee McQueen from BBC1’s The Apprentice was a prime example of what a nightmare it can be when an interviewer exposes any discrepancies on a CV,” says Joe McDermott, CEO of Interviewgold.com.

“He was made into a scapegoat for the thousands of other candidates who are doing it.”

But in the current job market, most employers aren’t as lenient as Alan Sugar.

With lots of good candidates applying for limited positions, interviewers really are turning up the heat in the interview room, says McDermott, and people who’ve lied on their applications deserve sleepless nights.

The Interviewgold.com survey also revealed that for 56 per cent of people, their biggest interview nightmare would be clamming up or going blank when being grilled.

“This can be easily avoided with a little bit of preparation,” says McDermott. “If you do your research and make good use of all the tools available you’ll find it easy to stay cool in the hot seat.”

McDermott’s top tips to avoid interview nightmares:

1. Don’t assume that a good CV is enough to get the job; a good CV will get you into the interview room but it’s your performance that will win the job.

2. Arm yourself with knowledge. Study the advertisement, job description, person specification and get to know the employer by conducting research.

3. Perfect your communication skills. An interview is a communication exercise and your ability to sell yourself and your skills is the key to success.

4. Give evidence of your ability. Its all well and good saying you are good at something, much better if you can prove it by quoting examples.

5. Don’t forget personal presentation. A decision can sometimes be made in the first two minutes of a job interview and it goes without saying that what you wear and how you present yourself can have a huge impact.

Interviewgold is the UK’s most innovative online service for candidates preparing for an important interview.

Interviewgold provides example questions and mock interviews along with tips and advice from expert recruiters.

The service is customised to individual job sectors and levels, meaning candidates can sleep easy knowing they are well-prepared for the interview ahead.