Dear Job Seekers and Hiring Managers,
I recently interviewed a candidate for a mid-level developer role. Strong CV. Clean layout. Good experience on paper.
About ten minutes in, I asked him about a specific technology he’d listed under skills.
He hesitated.
I asked a follow-up question. He hesitated again.
So, I dug a little deeper.
Eventually, he admitted he’d never actually worked with it. He’d seen it used by colleagues. Read about it.
Watched it in action. But never built anything with it himself.
Then he said something that stayed with me long after the call ended.
“I honestly didn’t think you’d notice.”
And if I’d sent him to a client without knowing? He would have just improvised in the interview.
What struck me wasn’t the dishonesty. Candidates stretching the truth isn’t new.
What struck me was his genuine surprise that I’d spotted it. He’d assumed the skill would just… pass.
I’ve been recruiting for a long time. This pattern is not new. But it’s getting more common. And it’s worth
talking about openly – because it costs everyone something.
Why Candidates Do This
I want to be fair here, because the pressure to do this is real.
Job specs have become wish lists. Ten required skills. Five to seven years of experience. Three certifications. Proficiency in tools that have only existed for two years.
Candidates look at a role they genuinely want and do a quick calculation: if I list exactly what they’re asking for, I get the interview. If I’m honest about the gaps, I don’t.
So they stretch. They upgrade “exposure to” into “experienced with”. They move something from a personal project into professional experience. They list a technology they’ve used once as a core skill.
And it often works – right up until the interview.
I understand the logic. I don’t agree with it. But I understand it.
Why It Backfires
Here’s what candidates who do this tend to underestimate.
Good interviewers probe. Deeply.
A CV gets you the interview. The interview is where the real assessment happens.
Any hiring manager or recruiter who knows their field will ask you to talk through how you’ve used a skill. Not just whether you have it. How. In what context. What problem it solved. What you’d do differently now.
Theoretical knowledge runs out of road quickly under that kind of questioning. And the moment it does, trust in everything else on that CV takes a knock too.
The SA tech market is smaller than it looks
South Africa’s IT industry is tightly networked. Hiring managers talk. Recruiters talk. Industries overlap.
A candidate who oversells their way into a role, struggles visibly in the first few months, and exits quietly – that story travels. Sometimes faster than the candidate’s next application.
The role becomes the problem, not the solution
Getting a job you’re not ready for doesn’t feel like a win for long. The first few weeks in a role where you’ve overstated your skills are genuinely stressful. The gap between what you claimed and what you can deliver becomes very visible, very fast.
The candidate I spoke to wasn’t a bad person. But if I’d placed him, he would have been set up to struggle – and my client would have paid the price for that.
What Candidates Should Do Instead
Be honest about your level – and frame it well
There’s a real difference between “I have no experience with this” and “I’ve been building my knowledge of this and here’s what I understand so far.”
The second answer is honest and shows initiative. It also gives the hiring manager something to work with. Many companies will hire someone slightly below the spec if they demonstrate genuine aptitude and the right attitude.
What they won’t do is forgive discovering they were misled.
Apply for roles where you’re genuinely competitive
I know this sounds obvious. But a lot of the CVs I see are clearly applications of hope – sent to roles that are two levels above where the candidate actually is, in the hope that the interview will somehow close the gap.
It rarely does. And the time spent chasing roles that aren’t right is time not spent building the skills that would make the right role possible.
Tell your recruiter the truth
If you’re working with a recruiter, be honest about where your experience starts and where it ends.
We’re not there to judge you – we’re there to find you the right fit.
A recruiter who knows your real level can match you to roles where you’ll succeed and grow. One who only knows what’s on your CV is flying blind – and so are you.
What Hiring Managers Should Do
Probe deeper than the first answer
The candidate I interviewed gave a perfectly adequate first answer. It was the follow-up questions that revealed
the gap.
Ask for specific examples. Ask how something was implemented, not just whether it was used. Ask what they’d do differently if they approached it again. Candidates with genuine experience answer these questions with ease. Candidates who’ve padded start to show the joins.
Revisit your job specs
If your spec lists fifteen required skills and candidates are routinely struggling to demonstrate half of them honestly, the spec may be part of the problem.
An unrealistic spec doesn’t attract better candidates. It attracts candidates who’ve learned to overstate.
Be clear about what’s genuinely essential, what’s nice to have, and what you’re willing to develop in the right person.
Create space for honesty in the interview
Some of the best conversations I’ve had in interviews have started with a candidate saying “I want to be upfront – I have some experience here but not as much as the spec asks for. Can I tell you what I do know and how I’d close the gap?”
That kind of honesty is rare.
When an interview creates space for it – when the tone is curious rather than adversarial – you’re more likely to find out who you’re actually hiring.
Use your recruiter properly
A good recruiter should be screening for this before a CV reaches you. That means asking candidates direct questions about their experience, probing anything that looks vague, and only submitting people they’re confident can do the job.
If CVs are consistently arriving that don’t hold up in interview, that’s worth a conversation with whoever is sourcing them.
TL;DR
Candidates overselling skills to match job specs is a pattern that’s getting more common – and it costs everyone. The pressure to do it is real, but it backfires: good interviewers probe deeply, the SA tech market is small and reputation matters, and landing a role you’re not ready for isn’t a win. For candidates: be honest about your level, frame it well, and apply for roles where you’re genuinely competitive.
For hiring managers: probe beyond the first answer, revisit unrealistic specs, create space for honesty in interviews, and use your recruiter to screen
properly before CVs reach you. The gap between what a CV claims and what a candidate actually knows is where expensive hiring mistakes happen.
FAQ
Q: Is it ever okay to list a skill I’m still learning?
A: Yes – but be specific about where you are. “Familiar with” or “currently building experience in” is honest and often respected. What causes problems is listing something under skills without qualification and hoping nobody notices. If you’re asked about it, the conversation will go better if you’ve already framed it accurately.
Q: What if the job spec is genuinely unrealistic – should I still apply?
A: Yes, if you meet the core requirements. Most hiring managers know their wish list is longer than what they’ll actually find. Apply honestly, address the gaps directly in your cover note or with your recruiter, and let them decide whether the fit is close enough. What doesn’t work is padding your CV to match every line of the spec and hoping it holds up under questioning.
Q: How do I probe skills effectively without making the interview feel like an interrogation?
A: Keep it conversational and specific. “Walk me through how you’ve used that in a real project” feels very different to “prove you know this.” Most candidates with genuine experience enjoy talking about their work in detail – it’s one of the clearest signals you can read in an interview.
Q: What should I do if I realise mid-search that a candidate’s CV doesn’t match their actual experience?
A: Have the direct conversation. Ask them to clarify. Give them the chance to be honest before you make a decision. Sometimes there’s a reasonable explanation – a poorly worded CV, a role that involved more observation than doing. Sometimes there isn’t. Either way, you need to know before they’re in front of your client or your team.
Q: As a hiring manager, how do I write a spec that attracts honest applications?
A: Separate essential skills from desirable ones clearly. Include what you’re willing to develop in the right candidate. Give a sense of the team and environment. A spec that reads like a human wrote it – rather than a checklist generated by committee – tends to attract candidates who engage with it honestly rather than just ticking boxes.
Have you been in this situation – on either side? A candidate who came clean, or a CV that didn’t hold up once you started asking questions? I’d like to hear about it in the comments.
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Therese Otten is the founder of DataTech Recruitment since 2019, and a Senior IT Recruitment Consultant based in South Africa with 20+ years of Recruitment experience. She specialises in connecting top tech talent with SMEs and start-ups and companies building their tech teams, with a focus on developers, architects, testers, IT leaders and many more. Known for her honest, consultative approach, she is passionate about candidate care, client partnerships, and raising the standard of recruitment in the South African market.
Looking to hire? Get in touch: therese@datatechrecruit.co.za
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