The job market is still tight, but there are some recent signs of life.

Some companies are beginning to hire, and many of you are ready to pounce. You’ve been waiting for your first chance to get the hell out of where you are now; or you just want to land any job after being unemployed for months.

This creates a volatile situation. Desperation=Dumb sometimes.

You finally get a call from a new employer and they want to interview you. Great. Just don’t let your enthusiasm cloud your judgment.

Maybe the job, or the company just isn’t a good fit for you. I know, you’re thinking, “I just want to make a move. If it doesn’t work out, what harm is done?”

Well, the harm includes wasting precious time you could have been spending on finding the perfect job; ending up in a toxic work environment that takes years off your life; or getting laid off because the company you joined was actually in a volatile financial situation and suddenly you’re jobless.

There are lots of things you can do to find out more about a company — do research on a firm’s financial health, talk to people who work there, etc. And here’s a link to a company that’s ranked the reputations of top U.S. companies. But how do you really know what’s going on? How do you know that the last three people who held that position left because the boss was insane? How do you know if the government is investigating a firm and soon half the staff will be going to jail?

What if there was a way to figure out if a hiring manager was lying to you when she or he raves about a firm in an interview?

No, this isn’t an episode of “Lie to Me.”

This is about figuring out if a hiring manager is lying to you. Can it be done? Pamela Meyer, author of “Liespotting: Prove Techniques to Detect Deception,” thinks it can.

I’m not a huge believer in psychological interpretation of anything for the average Joe or Jane, but some of Meyer’s theories seem to make sense. There are sometimes verbal and physical cues that can offer you a glimpse of what someone is really thinking, or feeling. Maybe if you looked for some of these during an interview it could help you make a better decision. If nothing else, it will be fun to try out.

I asked her to offer you all some tips:

*Baseline Your Interviewer Before The Questioning Begins, And Establish a Rapport

More than likely you have never met your interviewer, so while the rules of verbal and non-verbal cues still apply, remember that if he flips his pen in his fingers all the time, it shouldn’t set off your liespotting radar when he does it in response to a tough question. Attempt to “baseline” your interviewer’s behavior before the actual interview begins: Perhaps he will greet you in the office lobby and walk you to his office, or take a moment to make small talk; take this opportunity to note his facial tics, his word choice and his body language. If a certain behavior only surfaces during the interview, it probably holds some significance.

Next work on establishing an authentic connection with your interviewer. You’re not running for class president here, but a few techniques to ensure you come across as engaged, bright and a good fit for the company are well worth your efforts: Maintain eye contact (no bug-eyed staring, please), mirror his body language and his pace of speech and laugh at his jokes. This all may seem intuitive, but if you make the communications flow, your interviewer will remember you as someone he could envision working with - and if that happens, you’re close to winning the whole battle.

Other signs to look for? A thrusting palm handshake, presenting a downward facing palm, is a favorite of the power-player to put you in a submissive position. Don’t turn this into a game of Test Your Grip, but you should be aware this person values assertiveness – maybe it’s part of this line of work. Squeeze his palm back and speak with conviction.

*Determine the Interviewer’s Level of Truthfulness By Monitoring Verbal Cues

If an interviewer is tasked with enticing qualified people to work for a less-than-stellar company, he will have his work cut out for him. It’s important to get him talking by asking open-ended questions.

Look out for qualifiers: Say the interviewer knows his company won’t be able to pay you after six months. If you ask, Will there be an opportunity for a promotion after six months? A deceptive interviewer might say, As far as I know, To the best of my knowledge, the opportunity will be there.

He might also parrot your entire question verbatim, indicating that he is stalling, saying Will there be an opportunity for a promotion after six months? Yes, there should be I would think.

*Keep an Eye Out for Post-Interview Relief

Go into every interview expecting an authentic experience, think of it as the first step toward productive employment at a company you actually want to work for, but if the interviewer is showing signs of discomfort or outright deception at this early stage, this may not be the work environment for you.

In particular, watch for “post-interview relief” in your interviewer, such as a shift in posture and breathing rate; if he suddenly appears more relaxed when the questioning is over, he was probably withholding information, hoping you would remain interested in working for his company without asking too many questions. Remember the cognitive load on a liar is huge, so you will notice a physical relief once “the show’s over.”

I know, you’re excited about finally getting an interview, but do a bit of detective work of your own so you don’t end up jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.