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IT recruiters find that sometimes employers change the requirements of IT jobs even as they’re conducting interviews.  Sometimes a candidate will be asked about a technology they’ve never had exposure to or aren’t very confident in.  If this happens to you, here are a few tips from technical recruiters.

1. Don’t lie. Never, lie about having familiarity or experience with a technology.  This will always hurt you.  If you wind up hired for a job you can’t do, ultimately you’ll be fired. If your lie is exposed, either because you can’t answer further questions about the technology or some other way, you’ll lose all credibility with this employer and IT recruiting firms.  Once IT staffing agencies or employers find out you’ve lied about something, you’re often blacklisted.  Worse, sometimes they’ll tell others in the industry about your actions.  That means you might ruin your reputations with others, too.

2. Stay calm and present the fact that you don’t know something in a neutral way. It’s ok not to have exposure or expertise with every programming language or web platform.  Things are changing constantly.  New technologies are released frequently and companies often implement new technologies to keep up with industry trends.  If you don’t have exposure, experience, or expertise in a technology, it’s fine. IT staffing firms find that if you present this as no big deal, your interviewer is likely to see it the same way.

3. Mention technologies you are familiar with, especially ones you think would help you learn the one(s) you don’t know. Employers hire candidates all the time who don’t have the exact skill-set they initially started for searching for.  You might be a good fit for the job, even if you need to spend some time studying a new programming language or development method before you start.