Too honest during interviews?

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I had a job interview today. It was in a group and the employers did the whole process of elimination routine to weed out the people they didn't think were good enough. I got kicked out almost immediately. I was too upset to ask them what I did wrong, but I thought it over and came down to two possible reasons: I was too nervous and/or too honest.
The person sitting next to me at the interview was just as nervous (maybe even more so) but he didn't get eliminated as quickly as I did. I can't help but think that it was my brutal honesty that did me in.
The employers asked "Why did you apply here?" and some said "This looks like a great place to work at," but I said "I'm unemployed and need money."
It was the truth, but I don't think that's what they wanted to hear. Looking back I probably should've said something else or re-worded what I said, but I was nervous and it was the first thing out of my mouth (cuz I DO need money! I've been out of a job for 7 months and I'm running low on cash!) It seems to me like they were looking for brown-nosers. Does this mean I have to stoop so low as to lie and kiss someone else's ass so I can get hired?
Has anyone else felt like this?

Last edited by _Square_Peg_ on 02 Mar 2011, 10:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oh yeah, that's a fatal mistake. Always praise the company, to make it seem special and better than 'all the others.' And yes, it is sucking up, and yes, it is (usually) necessary to some extent. That other guy probably had the same reason for applying there, but knew not to say that.

Yes. And, it does feel pretty bad.

Honesty is not always a virtue, nor appreciated.

What helped me a bit with it is to think of it as a game (though I never had much luck with interviews, so what do I know). -- And to remember that it's not a test of who you are as a human being, as if you were being interviewed by St. Peter, or G-d. It's only about meeting someone else's expectations (which is basically the definition of sucking up). And essentially everyone does it.

I always did very well at performance interviews, but those seem rare and limited to certain fields (electronic construction, in my case).

I know just what you mean! I always feel bad about lying in interviews or making myself sound better than I am; it just seems wrong, and inaccurate to say the least. But when I talk to other people about how the interview went, they always say I was too honest. I've never said I'm unemployed and need money in answer to that question - I tend to just say everything that I like about the company and try not to think about the fact that there are probably lots of other companies I'd like to work for just as much if not more, lol. But it comes up at some point, and I always tell the truth about why I don't have much experience and that sort of thing... because I don't really know what else to say lest it amount to straight-up lying =[

I'm thankful that my current job and the one before that allowed me to be completely honest and still get the job. The interviews were mostly technical questions because they were highly technical positions and I think they were strictly hiring the most qualified individuals without regard to much else.

But I can relate to feeling bad about misrepresenting yourself because I sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door for a time. The only way I was ever successful at all at it was to be someone else completely, I just tried to be the guy in the training videos they showed me. I felt bad every time I got a sale because I didn't think I deserved it, they told us we were "selling ourselves" first so therefore I was selling a lie.

My therapist told me I could use the sales techniques they taught me to get more dates and make more friends. But I don't want any dates or friends that way.