Don't Tell

To avoid making inflated promises, follow one simple rule: tell the truth. After all, job applicants are trying to figure out whether the job will fit with their career goals, skills, and lives outside the workplace. They deserve to know the truth so they can make the right decision.

This strategy will not only keep you out of legal trouble, but also increase your chances of finding an employee who is right for the job and for your business. After all, no one wants a disgruntled employee on the payroll. If you're told the applicant the truth and he or she wants the job, then you've probably found a good fit.

Here are a few rules that will help you avoid common promise pitfalls:

• Don't make predictions about your company's financial future. Even if you honestly believe that you're heading for the Fortune 500, keep your optimism to yourself. If the applicant asks about the company's prospects, stick to the facts -- and if you make any statements about what the future might bring, clearly identify them as hopes, not predictions. For example, you might say "our business has doubled in each of the last three years, and we're hoping that growth trend will continue," but you shouldn't say "we'll be the industry leader by 2006."
  
  
• Don't estimate the future value of stock options. Let's face it: You simply can't know what your stock options will be worth in the future. It's fine to explain your stock option program to applicants and to tell them that you hope the options will be valuable, but don't say things like "when these options vest, we'll all be millionaires!"
  
  
• Don't say anything that might limit your right to make personnel decisions in the future. If you tell an applicant that you only fire workers for poor performance, this can limit your ability to terminate that person for any other reason -- such as personality conflicts or economic downturns -- if he or she accepts the job. Similarly, if you promise pay increases at regular intervals, the employee could hold you to that promise, even if your company's financials or the employee's performance doesn't warrant a raise.
  
  
• If layoffs are likely, say so. If your company is considering staff reductions and there is even a remote chance that the applicant you are interviewing might lose that new job as a result, disclose this before the applicant accepts the job. Otherwise, you may find yourself slapped with a lawsuit -- especially if the employee left a secure job elsewhere to come work for you. Of course, this strategy might make it difficult to find new employees, but it really isn't fair (or legal) to hire people on false pretenses.
  
  
• Accurately describe the position. Don't exaggerate the job requirements to land an applicant -- and don't play bait and switch by offering an applicant one job, then placing him or her in another. It may not matter to you who does what, but it will matter to the employee. And an employee who accepts the position based on statements that turn out to be false will have grounds for a lawsuit.