Selection interviews are not only one of the most common selection tools but also one of the most valid ones – at least as long as they are properly designed and administered. However, there are concerns that applicants can improve their chances in an interview by means of faking and that this might also impair interview validity. In my presentation, I will provide an overview of a series of studies that we conducted during the last years and of answers from these studies to questions such as: Can applicants really present themselves more positively in an interview then they really are? How much can applicants fake if they really try hard? Are warnings a suitable means to reduce interview faking? How do warnings affect applicant reactions? Can better interview questions help to reduce faking? Do all applicants fake in interviews? When are applicants more likely to fake – and when are they more likely to use honest forms of impression management? And finally: Does faking really impair the criterion-related validity of selection interviews?

Klaus G. Melchers is professor and head of the Work and Organizational Psychology Group at Ulm University (Germany). His main research interests are in personnel selection and assessment and include assessment centers, selection interviews, different forms of self-presentation in selection settings, and game-based assessment. Further interests concerning topics such as personality assessment in the work context, rater training, response behavior in surveys, and effective poster design. His research has appeared in journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Business and Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, Human Performance, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Psychological Review, and Applied Psychology: An International Review.