If you are prepared to lie on your resume, be prepared to get caught. Competition for jobs is becoming fiercer and companies realize they have more options to choose from. Therefore, it is becoming more and more common for companies to do extensive background checks on your resume prior to an offer of an employment.
According to a recent survey by ResumeDoctor.com, recruiters and hiring managers states as the most common mjisleading information being put on resumes as:
==> Inflated titles
==> Inaccurate dates to cover up job-hopping or gaps of employment
==> Half-finished degrees, inflated education or "purchased" degrees that do not mean anything
==> Inflated salaries
==> Inflated accomplishments
==> Out-and-out lies about specific roles and duties
Ann Everhart of ResumeDoctor.com explains, "education is the most common area of the resume where we usually see misleading information".
It may be tempting to add an extra job responsibility or the amount of experience you have had in a particular area to grab you reader's attention. However, now you are faced with adequately discussing responsibilities that you never really had.
If you do end up getting a job, now you are stuck with more lying, not only to the hiring manager, but also to the coworkers, clients, customers or even fans. You would have to show up at work every day knowing that you lied to get there and wondering when you might get caught.
If you do get caught, the result is typically getting fired right on the spot. Now, you a real reason to lie when you have to look for another job. It's a vicious cycle.
Connecticut recruiter Tom Mahon shared this story, “One bonehead forgot we had worked together for few years earlier (I still had his old resume) and sent me a new resume where every little was upgraded. His former employers ere apparently promoted him because he was doing such a great job at his current employer.
Beware: Background checks might happened after years you were hired. Recently, there have been a number of high-profile cases where the individual was working and was caught with lying on their resume years later.
Former Notre Dame football coach George O'Leary was forced to resign his $1.2M salary in 2001 when it came to light that he grossly overstated his past accomplishments.
If you convince your employer you are more experienced than you really are, you will be expected to demonstrate the necessary skills when need to. So before you lie on your resume, think twice and know the potential consequences. And we don't mean just the financial ones here, the lies could also prove to be huge source of embarrassment.
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