Thanks to shows like NCIS and Law & Order, we think we know all about how to catch a liar in the act. Are we as good as we think we are, or has the media’s portrayal of lie detecting conditioned us to look for the wrong signs?

Research is saying that what we know to be signs of lying doesn’t really help us determine if someone is being honest or not. While liars are traditionally thought to show signs of nervous energy, the opposite may be true. Here are three ways to tell if you’re being lied to in an interview.

Nonverbal cues: While no specific behavior can be definitely traced back to lying, there are some physical clues we can detect when someone is being dishonest. If a person is making something up, he tends to be thinking harder. With more energy directed at keeping his story straight, a liar will have less movement, keeping especially still in his upper body. Nervous fidgeting in an interview may truly be an innocent case of nerves.

Too much detail: In order to compensate for being dishonest, a liar might give far too much detail than necessary to tell a story. Although she might show confidence in her actions, such as excessive eye contact, a liar might have trouble keeping up with all the details. Some experts say you should ask them to tell their story backwards. Keeping details in tact while telling a made up story backwards will increase their cognitive load and make it harder to keep the details consistent. (That may be a bit extreme to do in a job interview, however.)

Length of response time: If it takes longer than normal to get an answer during an interview, the answer may be fabricated. Look for signs of thinking hard and extra concentration. If an answer seems rehearsed, especially if the speaker uses non-contracted words (“did not” instead of “didn’t”), it may show signs of a practiced story, rather than a candid recollection.

Of course we can’t always be certain when attempting to detect a lie. In fact, 54% of the time, we can’t tell if we’re being lied to. The best thing to do is use our best judgment and hope that our judgment is good.

Content originally posted by TIME and InterviewIQ