By Stephanie Emma Pfeffer
You really want
the job. But don't even think about stretching the truth on your resume
to get it. "It's never appropriate to misrepresent yourself," says
Kevin M. Rosenberg, managing partner of executive search firm Bridgegate
in Irvine, CA. First, if you get the job, you can lose it as soon as
your lie comes to light. Second, it's a huge risk: Rosenberg says most
companies conduct background checks, verify degree completion and
confirm past employment. Third, your reputation is on the line:
"Integrity is everything to employers, so don't call yours into
question," says Rosenberg. Read on for the most frequently lied-about
elements on resumes-and what to do instead of altering reality.
Title
People embellish
job titles to drive up compensation or seniority, but it could
backfire, says Rosenberg. If you apply for a senior manager role while
claiming director as your former position, a recruiter might think
you're overqualified. "You could inflate yourself out of an
opportunity," says Rosenberg, who adds that it's better to describe your
high-level job responsibilities instead of fudging your title. Plus,
the truth could come out when the firm checks up on you. "If a company
learns you aren't who or what you said, your offer may be rescinded,"
explains Jennifer Greenberg, a placement director at Quantum, an
executive recruiting firm in New York City. As if that's not bad enough,
word travels fast. "You don't want other people in your industry
thinking you're a liar," she says.
Job Duration
Candidates often list only years of employment, say, 2005 to 2007,
rather than specific months, say, December 2005 to January 2007, to hide
that they've jumped from job to job. But Rosenberg says it's better to
address a high-turnover career head-on. "Give concrete reasons for
multiple jobs in a short span," he says. Include a parenthetical note on
your resume that you left due to corporate relocation or company
shutdown. "If you were legitimately downsized or outsourced, then it was
out of your control and you have no reason to hide behind dates," he
says. Besides, you're far from alone: 8.8 million jobs were lost between January 2008 and February 2010.
People also cover up how long they've been out of work, says Greenberg,
who admits that candidates are more marketable when they're already
employed. But there's no need to whittle down your six-month stretch of
unemployment to three months on your resume. "Employers understand it's a
tough economy for job-seekers," says Greenberg.
Skills
In this
competitive market, you may want to exaggerate your technical expertise
or knowledge of industry-specific software. Not a good idea, says Cathy
Evers, Director of Human Resources at Centrinex, a call center solutions
company in Lenexa, KS. "Employers expect a candidate to be able to
function as her resume suggests," she says. In short: Just because
you've dabbled in a computer program or taken an introductory class
doesn't make you proficient in it. Even if you manage to get the job,
you may falter when the company realizes your skills aren't as strong as
you stated. Instead, she recommends accurately describing your
competency on a scale: For basic knowledge, say "trained in" or
"familiar with." For medium experience, use "solid understanding" or
"proven." And for expert-level knowledge, try "demonstrated success" or
"strong ability."
Education
No one wants to be eliminated early in the process for not finishing
college, so some applicants list years spent at a college or university
without mentioning the degree. "But including education implies that you
completed it-unless you clarify otherwise," says Rosenberg. If you
didn't graduate, specify your class standing or number of credits
remaining. Rosenberg also suggests noting why you left, say, to raise a
family or relocate for a spouse's job. While an employer isn't allowed
to ask, volunteering that information can remove suspicion. And for
those candidates who did graduate: Always be truthful about your major.
Just look at what happened to former Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson.
Achievements
Taking all the credit for team successes is a common resume blunder.
"Sometimes a group reaches a goal that an individual claims as a
personal contribution," says Evers. If the truth comes out, you could be
demoted in your new role. Another reason to avoid this resume mistake:
It's egocentric. "Companies want to know how you'll integrate with the
workforce," notes Rosenberg. "They look for people who can lead and
inspire as part of a team." Convey your ability to collaborate on your
resume by replacing "I" with "we" where appropriate.
Residence
Hiring managers prefer local candidates, so why not use a friend or
family member's address if you don't live in the city where you want to
work? You may have a problem once you receive that coveted call. "How
are you getting to New York by Friday if you're in Ohio?" asks
Greenberg. "Are you in a position to hop on a plane the next day? If
not, you'll have to come up with more lies." But if you're legitimately
staying with a friend for a couple of weeks and can make yourself
available for interviews, she says, it's okay to use that address on
your resume.
Age
Some candidates
leave off ten years of experience to avoid seeming too old, while others
may change degree dates because they're afraid of being too young.
Neither helps. "The person who shows up to your interview is you," says
Rosenberg. And while it's illegal to discriminate based on age,
companies are allowed
to choose the best candidate for the job, which may mean whoever fits
best with company culture. "There's nothing you can do," says Rosenberg.
"Just be who you are, hope you're dealing with an open-minded company
and walk in there with your best foot forward."
Benjamin
Harrison was President of the United States from 1889-1893. In the
first year of his presidency, he recorded the following statement onto
an Edison phonograph wax cylinder:
And here’s the upsetting punch line: intelligence seems to make things
worse. The scientists gave the students four measures of “cognitive
sophistication.” As they report in the paper, all four of the measures
showed positive correlations, “indicating that more cognitively
sophisticated participants showed larger bias blind spots.” This trend
held for many of the specific biases, indicating that smarter people (at
least as measured by S.A.T. scores) and those more likely to engage in
deliberation were slightly more vulnerable to common mental mistakes.
Education also isn’t a savior; as Kahneman and Shane Frederick first
noted many years ago, more than fifty per cent of students at Harvard,
Princeton, and M.I.T. gave the incorrect answer to the bat-and-ball
question.
You're
not supposed to judge a man before you walk a mile in his shoes, but that
apparently that proverb doesn't apply to women:
