BB Interview in US (foreigner) How to tell them that in interview?

In interest of my anonymity I won't say where I'm from.

I have an interview at a BB soon and I'm a foreigner studying in the US (native english).

On the application, I ticked that I wouldn't require a Visa in the future because I didn't want to get filtered out by the computer screening and wanted them to at least get the chance to know me in person. I've confirmed via online and via people that work there that they do indeed hire international students.

The question is, since I technically lied, what is the best way to bring this up in the interview?

Please only give helpful responses, I'm sure this has happened many times before.

8 Comments
 

Lol.... i knew I was going to get responses like this..

Cmon man I know my situation is less than ideal, but if you put yourself in my shoes, what would you say?

 

I think you have the perfect answer when asked to demonstrate how you represent yourself with the highest ethical standard!!!

In all seriousness, bankers (ie. the people who are actually interviewing you) don't care about this stuff, they expect HR to deal with this (and get you a Visa if you are the candidate they want) so I wouldn't bring it up (obviously, unless you are Canadian, your interviewers will pretty quickly figure out that you are international). If you are successful and get an offer, play dumb to HR and say you have OPT so wouldn't have immediate need for a Visa hence why you filled out this way. They likely will play along, but there's a material chance they might rescind your offer, you did lie on your application and for an industry that's trying real hard to shed its unethical image, that's kind of a big issue.

 
Best Response
"r4ndom"since I technically lied

I think you just "lied". The "technically" is superfluous.

Don't tell them, secure an offer, then tell HR. At that point, your leverage is higher, the bankers want you and HR/interviewers are, in some senses, less inclined to choose the next best candidate if they think the Visa issue can be easily sorted. Pretend it was all an inadvertent mistake.

However, this is also somewhat binary. As someone mentioned above, lying on the application form indicates you really just can't be trusted, can you? For some bankers, that's an automatic out. Not because they are anally retentive ethics freaks, but because it's a simple trust issue. If someone demonstrates that they are willing to lie for their own benefit in a way that clearly inflicts complications on my affairs, that's a pretty good demonstration of that's person's fundamental untrustworthiness. Technically, of course.

Your attempts to justify the deception ("technically", "I've confirmed via online and via people that work there that they do indeed hire international students") are pretty clear signs that you lack the maturity to understand that these justifications make your actions look worse.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

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