Every job applicant wants to look their best on a resume or during a job interview. After all, the person viewed as the best will likely get the job. But how far are you willing to go to leave that golden impression? Maybe stretching the truth a bit? Rating your skill levels a tad higher than they actually are? Outright lying? In reality, job seekers do all the above.
Politicians are famous for putting a “spin” on any situation so they always come out smelling like a rose. Similarly, applicants also want to cast themselves in the best possible light. Experienced interviewers are well aware most candidates engage in a bit of “puffing.” Merriam-Webster defines puffing as “to praise extravagantly and usually with exaggeration.” For example, consider an applicant who actually won sales awards only two months last year. On a resume or during an interview, the person may puff this somewhat modest achievement as “regularly” winning sales awards.
OK, so there is some deception out there. But how bad is it? According to a survey by Flexjobs, a job site specializing in listings for remote/work-from-home/flexible positions, “1 in 3 respondents (33%) have admitted to lying on a resume or cover letter.” Even worse, according to a survey by StandOutCV, a site providing CV advice and resources, “Our survey found that on average, 64.2% of Americans have lied about their personal details, skills, experience, or references on their resumes at least once.” Clearly, dishonesty by job seekers is not just a minor occurrence.
When Does Puffing Become Lying?
Regarding that question, the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania states, “The challenge, experts say, is not to cross the line from harmless puffery to a more damaging form of elaboration. In some cases, the limits of what is accepted and what isn’t are clear-cut — few would condone amplifications that break the law, for example, or cause others serious harm. Equally prone to reproach are cases in which company executives or leaders within an organization are found to have included degrees they never earned, or positions they never held, on their resumes…”
What Do People Lie About?
If people lie on resumes, cover letters, and during interviews, what kinds of things do they lie about, and how big are the untruths? As it turns out, we’re not just talking about “little white lies” or innocent stretches of the truth here. No, we’re talking about real whoppers. Like what?
According to Monster.com, common examples of lying on a resume include faking relevant experience, falsifying resume skills, embellishing employment dates, and claiming false degrees or certifications. For example, to appear more experienced, applicants may inflate their actual previous job responsibilities or even fabricate them outright. Employment dates may be deliberately adjusted to conceal gaps in employment.
When it comes to skill levels, as you might expect, applicants usually tend to overrate themselves. For example, just because you took one class or attended a one-day seminar on software such as Microsoft Excel, should you rate yourself as a “highly skilled” user on your job application? Whether such a portrayal is a deliberate lie or simply self-delusion, it clearly misrepresents your true skill level. Because of such deceptions, many employers now routinely use “skills tests” to determine an applicant’s actual skill level.
Falsifying your education, certifications, or licenses, especially in highly regulated fields, is an extremely serious matter. To legally work in certain jobs, federal and/or state laws may require employees to have certain combinations of education, certifications, or licenses. Consequently, falsifying such information could land you in serious hot water! How bad?
Misrepresentations Can Have Consequences
Suppose human resources or an interviewer catches a lie on a resume, during the interview, or even after the person is hired. What happens? If they catch the resume lie upfront, at a minimum, your resume gets tossed out. Now suppose you have an interview, but then get caught in a lie. Think about how horribly embarrassing it would be to leave the interview room with egg on your face—and no job offer. No offer from this company, not now, not ever. However, those are just the easy consequences.
Most companies have a policy of firing an employee if it is later found that they falsified something on their resume or job application. Yes, an individual could be fired even after holding the position for several years and having been doing excellent work!
Worse yet, you could owe big bucks or even end up in prison.
What? According to a post by LawDepot, lying on your job application may be considered fraud, and an employer may sue the employee for damages. This may be due to financial awards resulting from customer lawsuits, fines imposed by government regulatory agencies, and so forth. They go on to say that some states consider fraud a misdemeanor; other states consider it a felony. If convicted, any of these crimes could result in prison time.
Will They Catch You?
Probably. With so many applicants making false claims, Human Resources departments have become very skilled at detecting deceptions on resumes and applications. Also, the job interview can be a vulnerable time for dishonest candidates. An experienced interviewer can quickly separate fact from fiction by merely asking the applicant simple questions that “scratch just below the surface.”
According to a CNBC article, famous SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk asks one simple interview question to catch a candidate’s bluff: “What were the most difficult problems you faced and how did you solve them?” Musk goes on to state, “People who really solved the problem, they know exactly how they solved it.” In other words, applicants who merely puff will lack deep knowledge or detail and will quickly be found out.
I agree with Mr. Musk. For example, I recall interviewing an applicant who claimed significant experience testing a particular piece of equipment. He proudly described serving a months-long internship, working every day with the machines and performing tests on hundreds of them. All I did was ask the applicant a simple question: What was the brand name of the devices you tested? His response? “Uh… er…, they were blue.”
It Doesn’t Matter if You’re Clever
You may think you are pretty clever and could probably successfully pull off a deception. However, there may be others who will gladly blow the whistle on you. Think about it. Any number of individuals might be happy to trash your career. A jealous colleague, an unhappy former employee, a passed-over applicant, an angry ex-significant other—and that’s just a few possibilities.
Need an example? Here’s a true story. I know of a company that hired someone to head up a very large, important department at one of their facilities. The press release regarding the hiring of the individual touted how they had a bachelor’s degree from a prestigious college and an impressive work history with a well-known, national firm. A few days later, an anonymous letter arrived in the human resources department suggesting that the company look a little closer into the new executive’s credentials. They did. As it turned out, the individual had falsified their education. Although they had indeed attended the stated college, they were actually a few credit hours short of completing their bachelor’s degree. Therefore, in reality, they had no college degree at all. For this management position, the job description absolutely required a degree.
Let’s see. No degree. Lied on the resume, cover letter, job application, and in the interview. Caught red-handed. To make matters even worse, the whole incident became public and severely embarrassed the company president. You probably guessed the outcome; the new person was escorted out the door just as quickly as they had arrived.
The Bottom Line
As a job applicant, you are selling yourself. Like a salesperson, your immediate task is to paint your product—you—in the best light possible. You want your education, training, experience, skills, and credentials to look excellent. A job interview is the right time to “toot your own horn.” It’s OK. You need to show the potential employer that YOU are the best candidate.
However, keep it honest, even if many other job applicants do not.
Why? It’s the right thing to do. Besides, otherwise, you just might be reading Career Lantern while in the unemployment line or a prison cell.
Agree? Disagree? Please feel free to share your experience or thoughts!
Featured image courtesy of Adriele Nenes/Pexels
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