How do you know if someone is telling you the truth? How do you know if the person sitting across from you in a meeting or an interview or whatever is a superhero or a super villain? I know, kind of a strange way to start here but really think about it. Before we begin please click on this Twitter thread below from Jon Wu. Read it all the way to the end and then come back:

In 2017, I interviewed with Elizabeth Holmes to be Head of Finance at Theranos.

I'm convinced I learned more in those 45 minutes than I did in 10 years of school and work.

So when I heard Elizabeth was on trial I couldn't help but recall that moment.

Time for a story 🧵 : pic.twitter.com/OxgdHfTWA1

— jonwu.eth (@jonwu_) September 3, 2021

Welcome back. The Elizabeth Holmes criminal trial has begun and it’s got Jon, myself, and some others still wondering who she really was. A criminal? Tragically misunderstood? And how do you truly know who you’re sitting across from?

Now I’ve never met Elizabeth Holmes and I’ve only interviewed, to my knowledge, one person who was federally indicted so I don’t know too much on the topic. Some studies say sociopaths make up 1-3% of the general population. So basically if you work in an organization >100 people one of your colleagues has narcissistic tendencies. I’ve got goosebumps just typing that!

Really, I think it comes down to this: how do you know if someone’s personality is authentic?

There are articles all over the internet about “ways to spot a sociopath” and all that fun clickbait. I think specifics can help. Getting to the specifics.

When I interviewed {indicted inside trader} he was patiently waiting for trial trying to find work which he had presumably lost from that news becoming public. He waxed on about “wanting to move into another industry” and finding a place that was “a better cultural fit”. But he couldn’t really explain why he left one of the fastest growing SaaS companies in the Bay Area (at the time) while he was overachieving on all his numbers. I think I basically asked something along the lines of “sounds like an ideal situation so why would you leave?”

It was his inability to deliver on the specifics of why he had left and why he wanted…specifically…to join our startup that raised the *yellow* flags. The story just didn’t quite add up when we peeled back the onion a little bit more.

So look, you’re going to get lied to sometimes. You won’t know it many times. There are sociopaths among us. Even some psychopaths! Get specific, verify your information, and if things don’t line up then get OUT.

Oh and how did we find out that suspicious job hopper was indicted? Well, since a co-worker of ours had the same alma mater, I asked him if he knew the candidate. He popped {indicted inside trader}‘s name into Google. First result? WSJ indictment article. So hey you may not immediately know and sometimes a Google search can help.

There are plenty more companies and superheroes out there to help you find a better way. Getting specific and doing a little research may just help you avoid hiring criminals when they slip through the screen. Tread carefully out there, sharks are beneath the water!