Tricky situation..advice?!
My friend was in an interview and panicked when they asked about her previous work experience. She has none but she told them that she had worked at multiple other stores similar to the one she was interviewing for. She didn't mean to lie but was so nervous that she accidentally did. Has this ever happened to anyone? What advice should I give her - tell the interviewer or just go with it?? (I am really not sure what to say.) Thanks!!
First of all, you don't accidentally lie. You either lie or you don't, no matter how nervous you are. If get that nervous from people asking you a question, stay home. That being said, I feel once it is out there, it is out there. If they check it, your friend is done. If your friend goes back and says I lied, but I apologize, your friend is done. So honesty aside, I would play it out, and not lie on the next interview. Good Luck...
Apologize immediately after you catch yourself telling an interview lie. Proceed by making eye contact with the interviewer so he/she can see the sincerity in your eyes. Let the interviewer know a moment of fear caused your regrettable too quick response because you really want to work there! Hopefully, the interviewer will appreciate your honesty and view your apology as a strength instead of a weakness.
It's out there in the ether now! LOL
Look, as long as she didn't give locations of the stores at which she worked, the likelihood of the interviewer calling any of those places trying to track down a reference are slim to none. As far as that goes she doesn't have anything to worry about.
If hired, she may be expected to know certain industry practices based on her lie, and it will come out in the wash at that point. However, since most retail positions train the employee on the job, it might not be a big deal.
If the lie is eating her up and she wants to come clean, she should. If she can live with telling a fib to try to get an advantage over other applicants, so be it.
It all boils down to how she personally feels and what she wants to do about it.
I can somewhat see how this can be defined as an accident although it wasn't. Tell your friend that there are companies out there which will hire you without experience because to some companies the less experience u have the more teachable/ trainable you will be to them without bringing in your own ideas regarding how to do this or that! Also, some interviewers have a heart and they realize in order to gain experience someone is going to have to take a risk to hire one who has none. Always keep that in mind plus honesty is the best policy!