Lying on your resume

Hello! And welcome to CNBC’s Work It newsletter about all things work – from landing the job to succeeding in your career.

This week’s topic: Lying on your resume.

Congressman-elect George Santos made headlines this week after a New York Times investigation alleged that a lot of things on his resume may not be true – everything from where he went to college to where he worked, where he lived and even what charity he worked on.

This may be an extreme case, but lying for career advancement is more common than you think: More than 55% of people admitted to lying on their resume at least once, according to a recent survey.

What? Half of people are lying on their resumes? That is shocking. ??

So, what are people lying about? Pretty much everything:

I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but here we are: Talking yourself up on your resume is great. That’s what you’re supposed to do. But flat-out lying is not.

In fairness, some people have good reason for lying. Some said they lied about personal information on their resumes because they feared racial discrimination. Some said they lied about their college degree or skills because they felt they didn’t have enough experience and might not get an interview if they didn’t.

And, of course, sometimes it works. A few months ago, there was a guy who bragged on Reddit that he lied on his resume and landed a $65k a year job. He had previously been making $13/hour. And, he got a lot of support for it – that post was upvoted more than 12,000 times!

Sure, that sort of stick-it-to-the-man solidarity is fun but you have to remember that you are lying at your own expense. Those people aren’t going to get fired if your boss finds out you lied to get the job – you are. Any recruiter or career coach will tell you that there is never a circumstance where it’s OK to lie on your resume. It’s better to own your experience and find ways to sell yourself for the job without making stuff up.

The No. 1 lie that hiring managers say could cost you the job? ?Lying about an academic degree. 89 percent of hiring managers surveyed said they felt that was the most serious lie – even beating out lying about a criminal record!

You wouldn’t go to jail for lying on your resume – it’s not a legal document. But if you sign a statement saying what you said is true and then you lie, that is illegal. Would a future employer take legal action if they found out? Probably not. But, it could cost you the job and your professional reputation. And, depending on the circumstances, it could lead to a lawsuit. (Say, if you billed yourself as an expert and then someone got hurt or suffered losses as a result of your fraudulent representation.) And, if you got hired based on a lie and your employer found out later, they could fire you – and now you can’t use that job or any of those people as references.

So, why risk it?

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3 strategies for a winning resume

OK, now that we’ve established what NOT to do, what SHOULD you do on your resume?

Jeff Hyman, the CEO of Recruit Rockstars, has reviewed thousands of resumes and offers three tips for a winning resume: ???

? Highlight your achievements and results. Don’t cram your resume with too much information. (No one wants EVERY detail.)

? Mirror the job description. This is a no-brainer. They are literally telling you in the job description what they are looking for. So, use that information and those words when describing past jobs and experience (where it makes sense – again, don’t lie).

? Emphasize leadership and management skills. Leadership is one of the most valuable traits in a candidate – most hiring managers don’t just want you for this job, they’d ideally like to see you grow at the company. So, think about those times you’ve demonstrated leadership and good management and put those on your resume.

Gary Burnison, the CEO of executive-recruiting firm Korn Ferry, adds this terrific tip:

? Numbers, numbers, numbers. Wherever possible, put a number to your accomplishments – doubled traffic, increased sales by 35%, etc. You don’t have to explain how you did it on your resume – the recruiter will ask you that in the interview.

Jermaine L. Murray, a recruiter who has helped place people at Google, Facebook and Microsoft, offers a few tips for what NOT to do on your resume:

? Don’t stuff it with keywords! Yes, bots look at your resume but there are still humans involved and you don’t want to turn them off by making your resume look like a word cloud from the job description.

? Don’t include filler roles. Your resume should tell a story about why you are the perfect person for this job. So, keep it to relevant experience. They can do a background check on you to find out where else you’ve worked or ask you in the interview what you did during certain years.

Beware of fake jobs

It’s not just resumes – turns out, people are actually posting fake jobs, too.

Gini Baustert, an HR director, said she left a work environment she felt was toxic and then finally – 350 applications and 50 interviews later – found the perfect job!

Someone had reached out to her for an interview for a remote data entry position at a pharmaceutical-research company called Novum. She did her homework on the company – they seemed legit and everything was lining up. Finally!

Then, she got a “concerning” check in the mail – it was larger than it should have been to buy home office supplies – and she quickly figured out that if she had deposited it, her account could have been wiped out.

What she did next is a great tip for the rest of us: She found another recruiter for the company (which was an actual company) and reached out to them. She learned that they weren’t hiring for any such position – it was a scam posted by someone who did not work for the company – and that, in fact, several other people had fallen for the fake job listing.

Here are the red flags she found along the way:

?? The interviewer kept having a hard time with the camera in the interview – like they weren’t comfortable interviewing her.

?? They used company letterhead but the check came from a different company.

?? They were trying to rush the process along – depositing the check, etc.

The Federal Trade Commission even warned about fake job listings that use the names of well-known companies to try to trick you into sending them personal information or money. Here is their advice to help you sniff out a fake:

? Verify the job listing. Go to the actual company’s website and find the actual job listing – it’s usually under a “careers” or “jobs” section. And, if you can’t find it, call the HR department of the company using a number you find on their official web site.

? Do some research. Search for the name of the company + “scam” or “review” or “complaint” and see if you find any cases of people falling victim to a scam.

? Don’t give them money! An employer should never ask you to give them money for a job.

? Don’t deposit a check from someone you don’t know.

So, a few morals of these stories: Don’t lie on your resume. (Or ever, really.) And, if something feels off when you’re applying for a job – slow down and do more digging on the company and the position. And, when you find a fraudulent listing – flag it to the actual company, the platform the job listing is on and the FTC.

More From CNBC:

? How to tell if someone is lying – signs from a body-language expert

? 5 passive-aggressive phrases that ‘make people respect you less’: Public speaking expert

? Leo Messi used a ‘growth mindset’ to finally win his World Cup trophy—here’s what that looked like

? 5 money moves to make now to ensure financial success in the new year

? 3 morning habits to help you be happier and more productive at work, according to psychologists ?

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