The Missing Piece Knowledge from the Trenches

Lying on a resume, good guys finish last...again.

At present I find myself back in the job market after 15 years of steady employment, eager to jump back in. However, my resume was out of date.? It was also in desperate need of a style makeover. Now, I am not a professional resume writer, and I want my resume to look current and stylish. As anyone in my position would do, I reached out to the all- powerful and all-knowing World Wide Web of knowledge. (aka Google)

I spent days searching: a wide number of websites, most asking me to spend money on them to get my resume right. I watched too many you tube videos of people telling me how to write a resume that is HR proof,in I read a countless number of blogs telling me what colors to use/not use, what words will sell me/not sell me, and what formats will/won’t get me hired. I decided to try the website I thought would have the most credible source of information on jobs and career information, LinkedIn.

After a couple hours of searching job posts, I started to scrolling through my feed.? I stumbled upon a post from a senior executive advising job seekers to “lie on your resume, it’s okay.” This advice was surprising and unsettling.

As someone who values integrity, this felt wrong. I learned a hard lesson years ago about the importance of being honest in all my professional dealings. In the early days of my professional life, I made the mistake of telling a customer I did something that I didn’t do-QA caught it and I lost my job, a lesson well learned.? In all the websites, YouTube videos, and blogs not one condoned lying. The consequences of lying are significant.? Most companies conduct some sort of background checks. If you’re caught, you risk job loss, legal actions and possible reputation damage.

Curious, I wanted to know some of the reasons why people are lying. How often do they lie? What are some of the common lies that people are using? After doing a little digging, I found:

The reason that people are lying, here’s my summary of what Jalean Taylor had to say, referenced from the UNC’s Ethics Policy Institute, (June 2024):

1.????? Intense competition for limited jobs

2.????? Flawed hiring processes, where even entry-level jobs require experience

3.????? Joiner mentality: it’s acceptable because everyone else is doing it

4.????? Game theory: lying as a low-risk, high-reward strategy

As for how many people are lying: Statistics from Lauren Mastroni at Resumegenius.com show that 48% of people lie or consider lying on their resume. A 2023 survey by Resumelab puts this number at 70%.? This means most people at least consider using falsehood as a job-seeking tool.

The common lies include:

·???????? Covering up career gaps

·???????? Exaggerating tenure and job titles

·???????? Embellishing responsibilities and technical skills

·???????? Misrepresenting education credentials

·???????? Faking language skills

After all this checking, I still wanted to check with a close friend to get his read on it. He suggested that getting past HR gatekeepers might require bending the truth, but integrity should guide us once we have the job. Despite understanding this viewpoint, something in me still rejects the idea of lying on a resume.? Returning to the job market, and on resume v6.35, I understand the temptation to lie. However, I believe integrity and reputation are more important than securing a job through dishonesty. I wouldn’t want to work for a company that condones lying…again…but that could be another story.