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In an interesting study, a job interview question has been found to have the potential to detect liars and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also been using this question. 

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In 2017, Musk said that he had posed the same interview question to all his candidates. The question is "Tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them."

He had claimed that this question helped him in catching the liars and now a study has backed his method.

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The question falls under the 'Asymmetric Information Management' (AIM) interview technique which has been designed to provide interviewee with a way to demonstrate they are speaking the truth by telling in detail about their experience.

In the study, which was published in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, different ways for spotting liars with the help of the job interviewing technique have been explained.

What answer determines if the candidate is telling the truth?

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If the applicant answers the open-ended question of Musk with a specific and detailed response, it is most likely they are telling the truth. 

"Small details are the lifeblood of forensic investigations and can provide investigators with facts to check and witnesses to question," said Cody Porter, who is one of the authors of the study, in an article.

"If they provide longer, more detailed statements about the event of interest, then the investigator will be better able to detect if they are telling the truth or lying. In contrast, liars wish to conceal their guilt," explained Porter.

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"This means they are more likely to strategically withhold information in response to the AIM method. Their assumption here is that providing more information will make it easier for the investigator to detect their lie, so instead, they provide less information," she added.

The hiring process of Musk is very unique. He does not look for a college and even does not ask for a high school diploma, but he looks for "evidence of exceptional ability" while hiring new staff. 

"If there's a track record of exceptional achievement, then it's likely that that will continue into the future," he said. 

This is the reason why the same interview question is posed by Musk since it is easy to lie on a resume but it is difficult to create a detailed lie on the spot.  

(With inputs from agencies)