Have you often found it necessary to distort the truth in job interviews?

Since you asked-
Never.

Not often as I have been self employed for years for this very reason.
I loathe the game, I loathe having to market myself like a used car salesman.l lol

No I’ve been very lucky.

Not really. The only thing I might say is if I disliked a previous or current job or employer I wouldn’t trash it or them like I might want to. I’d make it sound like I left, or am leaving, for job growth or something positive.

I haven’t. I see an interview as a two-way process. If I have to lie to get the job, it probably isn’t the right job for me.

Never

Yes, not to a huge extent where I could end up in trouble for it, but if you need the job, I find it logical to distort the truth WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS. After all, are they totally honest on their side?

I totally get what you’re saying, and for entry and low level jobs, a little goes a long way.

I worked in a factory for 20 years. When I started there, you largely got hired on a referral from a current employee, and a short interview with HR.
By the time I left, you had to apply with the local employment office, interview 3 times and pass 2 written tests. One of the jobs, literally, was to take a pre-counted stack of tortillas out of a counter and put them on a belt with a self-positioning peg to go into the wrapper. Another job was throwing a packet of taco sauce on a package of tortillas as they passed by on a conveyor.
When I started there the plant manager was proud of the fact that he’d started working for the company on sanitation. When I left, you couldn’t be a manager without a college degree.

Seems to me the whole interview process has become a way for a lot of mid-level HR people to justify having jobs. Most of the people answering “No” here are educated and seeking jobs that they have qualified for by training and education. Jobs they want at least as much as need.

I don’t, I’m always as honest as possible.