Oh man, where to begin.
While you assume they do not want the truth, I assume the same about you...but I am going to deliver what I perceive (accurate or not) and that is all that matters...perceptions, especially when you are sitting in an interview.
I have spent years on hiring boards and now that I own my business I conduct interviews all the time. Like it or not, your quals will never be enough to grant you a job. You have to sell yourself, this is not the time for you to "be yourself" and have the attitude of if they don't like it, I am too good for them anyways.
You need to realize you are NOT in demand. You are an EMT with no experience, there are 1000s of you competing for the same jobs. The job market is already against you which means you need to examine yourself and see how you can improve so you can make it past the interview.
I read your post multiple times, walked away and read it again trying to analyze and see if I could post to assist you. All I see is a LOT of attitude with a huge chip on the shoulder. This is my perception and this is formed only by writing...if this attitude carries over into your body language, your tone, your facial expressions and finally your clothing...then it is no surprise why you are not getting call backs.
You have made a huge assumption that everyone is lying or a better liar than you. There is so much negativity going on and you have made a ton of assumptions all of which you have actually NO verification of.
During my interviews, I look for character, I think team/group dynamics. I look for ability to laugh, ease of conversation, ability to admit when they do not know something and appropriate answer for how they would handle that moment when it comes (because it will). I could care less about their education or qualifications because I have already chosen them for an interview. I know their background, it impressed me enough to put them in front of me. Now I need to know their character. I have hired way less qualified or experienced people based on their interviews and have dismissed candidates who thought they were guaranteed the job...all because of personality or lack of.
I will be a little edgy now and share exactly how I have envisioned you based solely on your writing and expressions. A young black male, disgruntled, has some swag, took a course, was fed a lot of inaccurate info about job prospects and is hating life at moment. In reality, you could be a white poindexter from Ohio, but again what your personal reality is, is irrelevant as it is all about my or the hiring boards perception....unfair...yes but it is human nature and one than is extremely difficult if not impossible to overcome.
Knowing and accepting that, you need to improve your overall presentation and give them what they want. Call it sell out or whatever, but at the end of the day, it is you who wants a job, you who needs them, not the other way around.
You need to practice interviewing techniques. Tons of websites give you free advice, just spend the time looking. Have you written down the questions they asked you in previous interviews? That would be wise, write them down, create answers to them and then practice. When you get done practicing, go practice with a relative or a friend. If you really want to hear how poorly you sound, record it. Observe your body language, listen to how many umms you say or how many times you mumble. It all matters, it is all relevant.
Dress the part. Dress nice, shave your face, no gum. Get a haircut 2 days before any interview. Never do it the day of or the day before as your hair needs time to recover and you fix whatever is messed up.
Those off the wall questions, they are testing other things about your character. Obviously you have failed, multiple times. If you do not understand or are unclear what they are asking, you need to take charge and ask them to clarify. This shows you are not frazzled, you can take command and then direct questions back to someone who you are currently assumed to be slightly scared/apprehensive of. The ability to do this one simple act shows me your potential for on the spot critical thinking and leadership.
After they clarify further, take your time to answer. Do not start rambling just because there is awkward silence. Police love this technique when interviewing suspects and many hiring boards employ it because the candidate will feel the need to say something, anything and they will start rambling and then we gain a lot of useful insight about the candidate, both good and bad.
Tell them, I am considering different answers to the question. This shows them you are not a rash impulse kind of person and you weigh decisions carefully. By not speaking you show them you are confident with awkward silence while you formulate a response. You show them you can maintain composure under duress. When you are ready, repeat the question back to them and then follow up with your answer. The reason you repeat it back is so you do not suddenly get an adrenaline surge and rush your answer. If you rush anything, it will be the question which they will ignore cause they already heard it since they asked it. It is buying you time to breathe and relax and adjust your tone and speed if needed.
When speaking, you need to make eye contact. If you cannot look me in the eye, I will never hire you, ever. You hold your head up, you speak slowly and clearly. No slang, no jokes, proper English and clear.
A lot of the random questions do not have right or wrong answers, it is a tool to assess your personality. Some questions we could care less what the answer is and may actually be judging you on everything else I already mentioned. Some questions are asked to see what kind of outside the box thinking you are capable of...again no right or wrong.
It is grossly unfair of you however to paint every other candidate with such broad strokes of being good liars and painting every interviewer with they only want liars and not me, even though I am hardworking.
You need to work on the attitude...whether you realize it or not I am willing to bet you carry it in other ways outside of your writing.
I have taken the time to write as clearly as possible many things which could assist you if you pay attention.
I was just about to hit send and I noticed you edited and added in that you are not white, so you are dropping the race card. I do not even know where to begin with that because race is not a factor. Black or white side by side, if either one does any of the above, they are not chosen. You are one of many candidates not chosen of all races, colors, creeds.
