Ever thought about lying on your resume to get a job?

[Chubroach]

I was reading that according to a company that verifies information on employment applications that over 50% of people will lie on their resume and/or employment application to get a job!

I know that the people who send messages on the DIS BOARD are generally very moral, etc so we would not do something like that, or would we?

I get the impression that most lies on resumes and employment applications are not found out. Otherwise people would not be doing it in increasing numbers. Maybe an extra college degree is faked, or a better sounding job title, or maybe a period of unemployment is covered up? Or maybe a few of your professional references that were supose to be an ex supervisor are really your brother or best friend who are coached what to say!

Its tough out there, maybe we need to lie on our resume to compete with these people in the tough job market?

 

[Pam]

I know that the people who send messages on the DIS BOARD are generally very moral, etc so we would not do something like that, or would we?

This doesn't apply to me - because, remember, I sleep with the boss......

 

[KristaTX]

 

[Dan Murphy]

Allllll right, com'on, who is this really, Mary or Bruce?

 

[Mimi Q]

No.

 

[caitycaity]

another

 

[delikado]

Originally posted by Chubroach
Its tough out there, maybe we need to lie on our resume to compete with these people in the tough job market?

It seems like this could turn into a vicious cycle. In order to be competitive with the people who fabricate their resumes, we have to add some extra "padding" to our resumes, then someone else has to lie some more! Where does it stop?

Personally, I'm too paranoid to add anything false to my resume. With my luck, I'll be one of the few people my prospective employer chooses to do a background check on!

 

[damo]

If they ever find out, and they probably will, you will be fired and may never get a job in that market again. Bad, bad judgement call.

 

[HauntedMansionGeek]

I don't lie on a resume nor do I cheat on my taxes!

 

[Hercules10]

What if your applying to be a used car salesman? Isn't lying a pre-requisit?

 

[katerkat]

I don't put down months on previous jobs unless asked - I guess that's a lie of ommission.

 

[ScarlettO]

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[C.Ann]

Definitely not.. I would never, ever be able to sleep through the night again if I did..

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Chubroach is the King of Stupid Questions at this point.

 

[lrmillen]

Just read this article on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/03/11/resumes.fraud.reut/index.html

 

[Jynohn]

I used to work in HR for a financial institution. We did very thorough background checks and would verify ALL information given to us. I was also the person who verified past employment for our former employees, and got several calls a day, so yes, many companies DO verify information on resumes.

I remember one woman in particular who was interviewing for a very high profile, high paying position. She got all the way through the interview process (this took several weeks given the nature of the position) and when we finally got to the background check portion we couldn't verify her college degree. It turns out that she lied about attending college. She made a rather humiliating attempt to explain herself (she said she wasn't actually enrolled in school, but read her roommates notes and helped her with homework so it was like she attended herself!) and needless to say her offer was withdrawn. It was a huge waste of time for everyone involved.

I would advise against lying on a resume. It can only come back to bite you in the long run...

 

[~*Belle 2003*~]

Nope, honesty is the best policy.

 

[NC Belle]

No, I have been looking for a job for awhile. I was raised to believe that liars will get caught eventually. I am honest. I could have had a job by now if I boost up by Spanish speaking skills--in fact I downgrade it abit because I don't use it enough. I am not bitter about looking still---I needed the time off to do some things that came up unexpectedly. Sorry-if I got off track.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I don't see any benefit of lying on a resume, and I try to only list skills that I actually have (for example, although I may have seen a page from a FORTRAN textbook once, I do not list FORTRAN as a language that I have experience with)

But, there's also a line between lying and embellishing ... for example, a friend (who had worked as a cashier) was "Experienced at using a single user cash flow management system", or another friend who had worked as a Caddy ... "Long distance tracking of foreign objects on a roughly linear path"

 

[disykat]

Originally posted by SyracuseWolvrine

But, there's also a line between lying and embellishing ... for example, a friend (who had worked as a cashier) was "Experienced at using a single user cash flow management system", or another friend who had worked as a Caddy ... "Long distance tracking of foreign objects on a roughly linear path"

LOL! While I certainly agree that it's good to make your experience look applicable to what you're applying for, I'd hate to answer the question "what do you mean by that?" at an interview!