Have you ever stretched the truth in a job interview?
Maybe you’ve claimed a few extra A*s at GCSE level, or declared yourself fluent in French when you can barely scrape together a ‘Bonjour’.
While it might sound slightly dodgy, one career guru has humorously suggested a bit of pre-employment fibbing could actually work in your favour, provided you handle it with a touch of finesse. Career coach Kay Bray, known as the ‘Corporate Spirit Guide’, took to Instagram with her tongue-in-cheek advice, leaving her followers rather baffled.
“Here are three things to lie about when you get a new job,” she said, posting to her account @corporatespiritguide. “Number one, you have kids, no matter what. Those doctor’s appointments that equals a lot of days off.
“Number two, you have two sets of alive grandparents – it’s four funerals that you can attend if you need a day off. And last but certainly not least, you’re a team player.”
Kay’s cheeky guidance comes nearly half a decade after a BBC report revealed that two in every five Brits had fibbed to take a day off work. This notably included ‘pulling a sickie’, a tactic more prevalent among the younger demographic than older workers.
Fast forward to 2023, and the CIPD reported that employees are typically absent for an average of 7.8 days annually – a significant jump from the pre-pandemic figure of 5.8 days. Stress is believed to be a key factor behind this increase, with 67% of cases attributed to excessive workloads and 37% to certain ‘management styles’.
However, Kay’s unique take has certainly sparked a debate, with some utterly amused and others slamming it as ‘disrespectful’.
One person wrote: “Please don’t use your grandparents if they have passed. I feel that is very disrespectful,” as another chimed in: “I would never lie about anyone dying in my family. That seems like bad karma.”
Another countered this, adding: “It’s annoying how we have to lie about things like that just to catch a break omg.”
Meanwhile, someone confessed: “My first job thought I was Jewish so I was always off on Fridays & Saturdays due to sabbath. My manager assumed because of my last name. You better BELIEVE I didn’t say anything.”
