How to Catch Dishonest Answers in Video Interviews

Dishonest answers in interviews do not look like lying in the cinematic sense. They show up in reasoning gaps, inconsistencies, ownership avoidance, and narrative drift.

You do not need to “detect lies”. You need to detect a lack of real experience.

The goal is not to accuse or confront.
The goal is to test depth, probe reality, and observe stability under pressure.

First Principle

You cannot reliably catch dishonesty by:

• Facial expressions

• Eye movement

• Tone shifts

• Micro-expressions

Those cues are scientifically unreliable.

A large review of deception research concludes that facial cues, micro‑expressions, and vocal changes are not reliable indicators of dishonesty, and that traditional lie‑detection methods based on these cues are scientifically unsupported.

So we use cognitive signals, not intuition.

The Reliable Way to Detect Dishonest Answers

Test whether the candidate’s reasoning matches their story.

Real experience has:

• Specific constraints

• Tradeoffs

• People dynamics

• Emotional context

• Imperfection

Dishonest or AI-fabricated experience is:

• Clean

• General

• Polished

• Over-structured

• Impersonal

The Four Categories of Dishonest Answer Patterns

1. Ownership Ambiguity

The candidate cannot explain:

• What they personally did

• Why did they make specific decisions

• Their influence on outcomes

Ask:

Which part did you personally own, and how did you decide your approach?

Dishonest answers return to group pronouns:

We did
The team decided
The process was

Real contributors say:

I pushed for
I disagreed with
I changed direction

2. Absence of Constraints

Real work has:

• Time pressure

• Budget limits

• People disagreements

• Technical debt

Dishonest answers describe work as:

• Smooth

• Straightforward

• Conflict free

Ask:

What was the hardest part, and why was it hard?

Dishonest answers will stay generic.

3. Narrative Drift Under Follow-Up Pressure

If the answer is memorized or generated:

• It will not survive a detail-level follow-up.

Ask:

What changed between week one and week six?
Who pushed back against your approach?

Real experiences reveal:

• Emotions

• Tension

• Personal reaction patterns

AI-derived or dishonest answers break into:

• Repetition

• Reframing

• Topic shifting

4. Lack of Temporal Anchoring

Real stories occur in time:

• Before X

• During Y

• After Z

Dishonest experiences:

• Do not move in time

• Describe events as isolated islands

Ask:

Walk me through the sequence. What happened first?

If they cannot build a timeline, they did not live it.

The Interview Structure That Reveals Truth

Step 1: Start Open

Let them speak freely.
Do not interrupt.
Please pay attention to how they structure their story.

Step 2: Probe Ownership

What did you personally decide?

Step 3: Probe Difficulty

What went wrong or got messy?

Step 4: Probe Adaptation

What did you change once things were not working?

Step 5: Probe Reflection

If you were to redo this, what would you do differently?

Real reflection = authentic experience.
Dishonest answers collapse or become abstract.

How to Document Dishonesty Safely and Legally

Write what you observed

Not your interpretation.

Do write:

Candidate could not explain their personal role in project.
Could not provide timeline or sequence.
Answer repeated after probing.

Do not write:

Candidate lied.
Candidate was dishonest.
Candidate is suspicious.

Document signals, not conclusions.

For Video Interviews Specifically

Watch for:

These are not proof; they are triggers to probe the depth of reasoning.

A report by Workable notes that video interviews are vulnerable to bias related to appearance, accent, and communication style, and recommends using structured, objective evaluation frameworks to mitigate these risks.

At scale, teams rely on tools designed to surface reasoning gaps, rather than labeling intent or making accusations.

Conclusion

Catching dishonesty in interviews is not about spotting deception.
It is about testing depth, ownership, and real-world cognitive texture.

Dishonest answers break under:

• Timeline probing

• Tradeoff questioning

• Reflection requests

Your job is not to catch people.
Your job is to validate truth.