resumes

Have you ever stretched the truth on your resume? Maybe just a little? According to the results of a new survey undertaken by careerbuilder.com, more of us have puffed up our resumes that you might think. Just under half of the hiring and HR managers surveyed said they had caught a job candidate lying on a resume, while only eight percent of the job seekers admitted to stretching the truth. Clearly somebody’s not telling the truth here.

The survey notes that if you get caught with a little misinformation on your resume, it’s not going to sit well with the hiring manager. Close to 60 percent of the job decision makers said that they would automatically remove the candidate from consideration. Still, if you like to play the odds, fibbing on a resume did work out for some. Six percent of job applicants who are caught lying still land the job.

IT, Healthcare and Transportation job applicants are most likely to fudge the facts on their resumes. 59 percent of Transportation and Utilities Human Resource managers said they found lies on resumes, while 57 percent of Information Technology employers discovered falsities. And here’s a real shocker, applicants applying for jobs in the Government sector appear to have the lowest rate of embellished resumes. Employers in Government reported just 45 percent. Who says you can’t trust a politician.

The most common lies on resumes were amplifying responsibilities and skill sets, dates of employment and employment history and academic degrees and job titles. Still, not all of the deceit the hiring managers spotted were just little white lies. The survey asked managers to share some of the most memorable or outrageous lies they had spotted on a resume. Some of the big fat ones included: One applicant who claimed to be a member of the Kennedy Family, claiming to be a member of Mensa, submitting work samples that the interviewer actually did and claiming to be Hispanic when the potential employee was 100 percent Caucasian.

So how can you fill-in in the gaps or make your resume stand out from the crowd without puffing it up with embellishments or even out and out lies? According to Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder: “Even the slightest embellishment can come back to haunt you and ruin your credibility. Use your cover letter strategically to tell your story, focusing on your strengths and accomplishments and explaining any areas of concern if needed.”