Why transparency, RJPs in job postings can be an organizational 'superpower'
A growing share of jobseekers are being “career catfished” into roles under false pretenses – and according to one expert, HR professionals are responsible.
“I don't think people do it intentionally,” says Karen MacMillan, assistant professor of organizational behaviour at the Ivey Business School.
“But what happens is, just like when you go for an interview, you want to get the offer. Even if you don't want the job, you want the offer. Well, it works the same way for hiring managers. They may not even want that candidate, or maybe they do, but they don't want anybody to say no to them.”
Career catfishing: not just job applicants do it
The term “career catfishing” refers to the practice of misrepresenting information during the job application process. While usually this behaviour focuses on job hopefuls misrepresenting their skills or experience to land jobs, a recent survey by Monster found that 79% of employees say they have been catfished by employers.
As the survey states, the main way the respondents were catfished were:
- different work responsibilities than they expected (49%)
- misrepresentation of company culture (21%)
- overstatement of compensation or benefits (9%).
In a competitive market, hiring managers may unconsciously present roles in the best possible light, glossing over challenges or overstating growth opportunities – but as MacMillan explains, this tactic can backfire quickly.
“When the person comes on board, they end up saying ‘yes’ and coming in and then find out things are very different. Now the sense of trust that's so important is lost,” she says, adding that once trust is broken, engagement and retention quickly erode.
“Trust levels are going to be related to important employment outcomes, things like how hard people work, how much they put up with difficult situations or with conflict,” MacMillan explains.
“So you know, things aren't going well, do I give the company the benefit of the doubt? No, I'm not going to, because these people lied to me right from the beginning.”
Realistic job previews (RJPs) build stronger relationships
To reduce career catfishing, HR leaders need to prioritize accuracy and transparency in job descriptions and interviews, MacMillan says, including at the very start of the relationship with job postings.
To this end, she strongly supports using realistic job previews (RJPs), which lay out both the good and the bad aspects of a position.
“If the job is really that bad that nobody's going to want it, then maybe you need to change the job,” MacMillan suggests.
“Telling the good and the bad, because every job, like every candidate, has good things and not so good things. We want to tell the candidate about the bad things."
Hiring managers may think that realistic descriptions of work conditions and company culture will scare away the best talent. MacMillan says the opposite is true, as candidates who enter a job with realistic expectations are more likely to stay satisfied and stay longer.
"People will not resent the job, because they had fair warning that this is what it was like. It's when you tell them it's going to be rainbows and kittens,” she says.
“That's actually what I find remarkable, is that you don't actually talk people out of a job – you might, but if they accept it now, now they're going to be much more likely to stay and to be happy when they stay, and to not mistrust you because you were open and you told them.”
A better hiring process means better fits
Including RJPs in job postings can be an organization’s “superpower” MacMillan says, as doing so allows the wrong candidates to “self-select” out of the running, meaning fewer unsuccessful hires, less turnover and more productive employees overall.
“I want active self-selecting out, so that I have a smaller pile of resumes to choose from. But those have already been vetted by the candidates themselves, because they do truly have an idea of what this job is like.”
Many organizations still approach hiring from the traditional standpoint that employers are the ones to make the hiring decisions – but as MacMillan explains, this is no longer the case.
“I think traditionally, it was assumed that most of the decision making was happening on the side of the company. But what we know is, it's both sides that have to make a decision,” she says.
MacMillan emphasizes that the hiring process is a crucial moment in the employment relationship, and accuracy and honesty are essential to employee trust, well-being and eventually retention.
“I think it's really important to tell people exactly what they can expect, because it's such a pivotal moment,” MacMillan says; failing to consider the employee’s position can lead to long-term consequences when that employee is unhappy or quitting.
“’I just left that other job, or I gave up another opportunity, because you promised me this, the promise has been broken, and the trust has been broken, and things will probably never be good between us,’” she says.
“So, it's very dangerous.”
How to fix a career catfish
If someone is hired under false assumptions, MacMillan says the only way forward is to acknowledge the misstep.
“I think it's very difficult when this happens to rectify it, but I think the only way to fix it is to fess up and say, ‘Yeah, we didn't tell you what we should have told you,’” she says.
“And start talking about that, and become an ally with the individual on how to mitigate some of those difficult contexts,” such as training a micromanaging supervisor, or providing an upgraded work space, for example.
That also includes showing care and empathy, she stresses.
“The employee who's been lied to has to feel that somebody actually cares about them," she says.
“And when you've been lied to, that's kind of a very strong signal that the person doesn't care about you. So I think you have to reverse it by showing a lot of care for the individual rather than saying, ‘Yeah, too bad you fell for it. Now you're stuck.’”
Rethink who represents your organization
Often, candidates hear only from polished recruiters or enthusiastic managers – another spot where HR professionals can inadvertently be catfishing job candidates. To rectify this, MacMillan recommends involving a broader range of voices in the hiring process.
“We want people from all different perspectives to be able to say what it's really like, and give them permission to be frank,” she says.
“The hiring manager may think the job is like this, but maybe this person's colleagues would know other parts of the job.”
Ultimately, transparency should be seen as an asset, not a liability, she states, as being honest about the realities of job and work conditions will weed out the wrong candidates, allowing the ones that will be able to handle those realities to rise to the top.
“It's actually a superpower for the organization to be really clear about this. It's going to reduce the dissatisfaction that comes from some of these conditions we can't change,” MacMillan says.
“If I give them enough information to say, ‘Yeah, this is not going to work’ – beautiful. I just reduced my chance of making a bad hire, which is all I want. I want to increase my odds of making a good hire.”
