Exaggeration in the Workplace

Exaggeration: A Discussion
A time when I had to exaggerate both my qualifications and my experience in a professional setting was when I was interviewing for a job as the lead manager/writer for an online magazine. It was a very coveted position and there were several rounds of interviews. I had made it to the third and final round of interviews. The bulk of the job would involve writing, editing, reading and assessing the work of other writers on the team, posting their work, finding more appropriate pictures to go with their work and a small part of the job involved video editing and posting. During my final interview, the company representative wanted to know how fluent I was with the a range of video editing software and effects software. I knew that I was really close to getting the job, and I didn’t think that my actual, 100% honest answer would be sufficient enough to land the job completely. My honest answer was simply that I’m familiar with a host of video editing software, and can complete basic tasks, but that I can’t really do anything sophisticated. However, I didn’t think such an answer would inspire confidence. So instead I said that I had much experience working with Final Cut, Adobe and Avid and that I was very comfortable using the program AfterEffects. These answers were total exaggerations of the truth. The truth is that I am reasonably comfortable doing very basic tasks on these programs.
The main thing that I considered when committing to this exaggeration was that video editing was just a small portion of the job. And it did appear at that time, that this company really only needed skills as basic as mine to fulfill the bulk of their needs. However, I exaggerated the truth so that I might stay a competitive candidate and get the job. Furthermore, I rationalized that if the company did in fact need me to do more sophisticated things with video editing software, I could always watch a tutorial on YouTube or Vimeo and get up to speed. I moved forward with this exaggeration because it definitely seems like something I could mostly control. Most experts in workplace ethics largely condemn such actions, viewing them as an unnecessary dishonesty, and something that can make a contribution to an overall environment of dishonesty. However, I disagree. I think this sort of adjustment of the truth can motivate people to learn new skill sets and to more proactively better themselves. Immediately after that interview I watched several tutorials on the software programs that I mentioned, and after a few hours of watching and several days of experimenting on my computer, I practically was the expert that I had claimed to be. Furthermore, one could argue that software and technology are constantly evolving with the rapid development of technology, that no one is an expert in a particular arena for very long. In that case, everything is temporal and it doesn’t matter if one exaggerates one’s skill set since everything is in a state of flux as it is.
Even though the case study concludes that honesty builds credibility as much as experience does, one could argue that exaggerating in certain scenarios can help push one to develop and to gain new skills sets and become a better and more nuanced version of oneself (Christian & Gumbus, 2009). Furthermore, too much honesty border on violating one’s personal rights to privacy; this is something transformational leadership has taught me (Singh, 2012). In this case, exaggerating did create trust and value, because I asserted that I had skills that I essentially did not, so then I went out and I acquired those skills so that I could add value to the company. And I was rewarded with the job.

References
Christian, V., & Gumbus, A. (2009). Shades of gray: Applying professional codes of ethics to workplace dilemmas. Organization Management Journal, 6(3), 178-199.
Singh, K. (2012). Developing ethics at the workplace through transformational leadership: A study of business organizations in India.