If you watched The Irrational this week, you noticed a couple of instances where Alec Mercer uses his unusual knowledge to get him closer to discovering the identity of a killer who poisoned a reporter acquaintance of his called CJ.

One of the more interesting angles of his investigation is the fake job interview.

What we’re talking about is a suspect he believes has motive, who worked at a tobacco company which had access to the poison used on CJ. This is a bad person and he’s still unemployed when Alec invites him in to interview for a job that doesn’t exist.

The angle is that in trying to get the job, the suspect will begin boasting about his previous achievements, and possibly reveal if he’s broken the rules before or even done something wrong to anyone he’s worked with in the past for the sake of remaining competitive.

It makes sense and it should keep you on your toes the next time you interview for a job.

The goal is to get the position, but is there a trap in the process where telling too much about your methods can sabotage your efforts?

Absolutely. The answer is absolutely.

The most common iteration of this trap is when the interviewer asks you to spill on why you left your previous position.

The wrong move here is to criticize your previous employer. It introduces questions about your loyalty.

But if you slip on voicing your commitment to follow the rules then you could be hurting your chances of getting the gig as well.

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