[thaumasiotes]

Well, I sanitized my report of the interview. He actually asked if I had a bad history. I was confused and said I didn't understand. He clarified that he was asking about things like crime.

So the element of getting suddenly put on the spot doesn't really apply. That's already about as awkward as communication gets.

More importantly, though, I don't think the point is correct to begin with. This is fine:

> I think you'd be surprised how many people are really bad at lying; or even bad at acting normal when they think they have something to hide, particularly when asked such a question unexpectedly.

But job applicants with criminal records are only going to match this description once or twice. For the rest of their lives, it's not going to be an unexpected question, and they'll have lots of practice in denying their record if that's the way they choose to go. You're just never going to catch anyone out this way.

[gwd]

> But job applicants with criminal records are only going to match this description once or twice. For the rest of their lives, it's not going to be an unexpected question, and they'll have lots of practice in denying their record if that's the way they choose to go. You're just never going to catch anyone out this way.

You're right, you're only going to catch people out if you're the only one asking this kind of question... but right now that's more or less true of the people in your story. First-mover advantage. :-)