When a jobseeker has been on a long search for employment, the temptation to embellishing your resume may grow strong. However, including a few jobseeker white lies on a resume could come back to haunt them.
Due to the current competitiveness of the job market more people are making false changes to their résumés to better fit potential jobs. According to a Forbes interview with Sunny Bates Associates, 40 percent of all résumés contain lies. And it’s not only the average jobseekers who are contributing to this trend; executives are falling into this trap too.
So what are most jobseekers lying about?
- Education: Common embellishments include: padding GPAs, including false extracurricular activities or adding bogus degrees.
- Embellishing titles: In order to garner more attention there are some people who will over embellish their past job titles.
- Foreign languages: Employers are looking for employees with a wide range of skills. So, more people are falsely claiming to be fluent in foreign languages.
- Gaps: In an attempt to hide employment gaps, some individuals skew the dates featured on their résumés.
- Salary discrepancies: When salary negotiations are under way some candidates will lie about their previous salary in order to get more money in their new position.
How do potential employees get caught? Some employers are spending $7,000 on extensive background checks, credit checks and private detectives when considering candidates for executive positions. Companies without these resources do the research themselves by verifying given information with universities, previous employers and use online resources like LinkedIn.
If you fear that your credentials are not enough there’s no need to fudge your résumé. Consider hiring a professional service to look over your résumé. They can tell what needs to change to better grasp a potential employer’s eye.
