Biggest Resume Lies

Biggest Resume Lies The biggest resume lies to avoidDont risk lying on your resume. Finding a job is challenging enough, but when your competition is beefing up their resumes with flat-out lies, it can make standing out even tougher. According toMonsters 2019 State of the Recruiter survey, 85% of recruiters said that candidates exaggerate skills and competencies on their resumes.And almost half of workers (46%) polled by staffing firm OfficeTeam, a Robert Half company, said they know someone who included false information on a resume. Maybe youve even done itIts an epidemic, says Scott Samuels, CEO of Horizon Hospitality, an executive search firm. More and mora people feel like they can get away with lying because they think no one is going to check and verify. Its rampant.Newsflash Companies will check your credentials, and yet, the resume lies are likely to continue. Why? I think fear is the main reason, says Kim Isaacs, Monsters resume expert. Fear of not being good enough, fear of not measuring up to their peers, fear of not getting called for interviews. Some people will do whatever it takes to get an edge.More likely than not, if you lie on your resume, youll find yourself skating along that edge. Whether youre telling a little white lie or a blatant fabrication, getting caught could amount to career sabotageespecially since todays technology and social media environments make it easier to get caught.3 of the most common lies job seekers tell1. Education embellishments. Samuels has found that people try to make more of a course or two they took than they should. Weve had someone put down Cornell School of Hotel Management on their resume, when they only took one class online, he says. The candidate didnt graduate from there or even attend in person.Better betInstead of fudging your academic credentials, think about what you can add to your resume to demonstrate your education. Other professional development, honors or awards, and extra cours ework might be relevant, says Isaacs.2. Date deception. Another common deceit is to deckblatt up employment gaps by stretching dates for one or two jobs to cover a time gap, or fabricating an interim job, says Isaacs.Better bet Its sometimes a good strategy to preemptively squash concerns an employer may have about gaps on your resume, says Isaacs. If you took time off to raise a family, care for a loved one, go back to school, or take on an independent project, explain your circumstances in your cover letter and be sure to stress how committed you are to finding a job you can grow with.3. Skill stretching. Many job candidates offer up a laundry list of technical proficiencies, but just because you used a program a few times doesnt make you an expert. The same goes if you claim to be fluent in a language just because you took a year of it in high school.Better bet Only list skills that you are truly prepared to demonstrate on the spot.How you canget caught lying on your resumeIf you think you can pull one over on potential employers, think again. Its probably true that many job seekers do get away with a slight exaggeration here, an omission there, but eventually, misrepresentations can come back to bite you.Hiring managers have their antennae up when reviewing resumes, says Isaacs, and theyre relying on background checks, reference checks, online research, social media sleuthing, and in-person interviews to determine the truth.Here are a few ways that lies on your resume will get you red-flagged as a fibberSkills assessments. Especially if youre applying for a skilled punkt that involves writing, coding, or designing, expect that an employer will test you before hiring you. Assessments can validate that you have the experience, as can asking appropriate behavioral questions during the interview, Samuels says.Social media research. If you have a social media profile and a website, youd better make sure that dates and basic facts match up to the resume you subm it. Because weve been in business for 20 years, says Samuels, a lot of times well even have prior resumes for a candidate on file that are completely different.And, of course, theres Google, so if there is some version of your resume or work history online, make sure its in sync with what you hand a prospective employer.Background checks. Its very easy for a hiring manager to contact your former employers and educational institutions to verify whats on your resume. And even if employers somehow miss false or misleading information before an applicant is hired, the job seeker isnt really ever off the hook. The resume liar is always in danger of getting caught, says Isaacs, and this could happen many years into their tenure. For instance, say your company goes through a merger and you have to go through a vetting process againthose lies can end up haunting you.3 easy ways to avoid lying on your resumeStay honest. It sounds clich, but honesty really is the best policy, says Isaacs. Ins tead of using evasion or a complete distortion of facts, try the following strategiesRethink your design. A common way to format dates on your resume is to right justify or left justify them so theyre set apart from text, says Isaacs. But lone dates surrounded by a river of white space draws the eyeso its not a good choice for someone trying to downplay frequent job changes.Instead, place the dates next to job titles or employer names so they blend in with the other content, she suggests.Get in front of a potential issue. You might be tempted to leave off a job in which your departure didnt go well, but omissions are like lies and can be just as harmful. Sometimes schwimmbad things happen. If youre honest and upfront, you can overcome that, says Samuels.Call in the prosFact is, no job candidate is perfect, and if your resume portrays perfection, that in and of itself might put an employer on high alert. Plus, employers dont expect perfection. What they do expect is your resume to re present the real you. Given the fluctuations in the economy over the past decade, its rare to find job histories that are pristine, says Isaacs. Most of us have had bumps in the road that dont exactly look great on the resume.Could you use some help putting together anauthentic resume thatfocuses on your strengths?Get a free resume evaluation today from the experts atMonsters Resume Writing Service. Youll get detailed feedback in two business days, including a review ofyour resumes appearance and content, and a prediction of a recruiters first impression. Leave the lies behind and lead instead with your best self.