5 resume lies they hope you don’t catch
June 19, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Assessing the right candidate, Interviewing, References, Special Report
Depending on who you believe, either some or most job applicants stretch the truth in their resumes. Here are the most common lies HR managers are told.
The issue’s gotten some press lately, as both Food Network chef Robert Irvine and Lee McQueen, a contestant on the British version of The Apprentice, were recently ousted as having lied to get their TV jobs.
Apparently they aren’t alone — 48% of job-seekers have stretched the truth on a resume, while 10% have told bold-faced lies, according to a survey by Monster.com. Other studies report discrepancies in as many as 56% of all resumes.
Things you’ll find in a background check
What truths are being stretched? These are the most common areas:
- Compensation — Some applicants seem to think the easiest way to get a higher starting salary is to lie about their current pay. Many employers ask about this when they check references, but some have even started asking candidates to turn over pay stubs. (Look out, though — that might be a big turn-off for the candidate.)
- Title — Candidates might make up phony titles to sound more important, or because their current employer uses esoteric titles that wouldn’t mean much to an outsider. Either way, that’s another thing that’s easy to check with a reference. Also, you should remind hiring managers to focus on what candidates did, rather than what they were called.
- Education — Candidates lie about their education surprisingly often. Common lies about school: fudging dates to appear older or younger, claiming degrees that were started but never finished, and listing degrees from an institution that doesn’t even exist.
Other fibs
Those discrepancies are the easiest to catch in a background check, but that hasn’t stopped folks from trying anyway. About 20% of HR managers say they’ve caught someone lying about a previous job, while 16% have exposed lies about academic degrees.
Also, there are other kinds of lies that can’t be easily uncovered by talking to an old boss. Two more common areas:
- Accomplishments — This usually involves taking credit for previous co-workers’ work. For example, people might say they “led” a team when they were really just one of many members. The best way to figure what accomplishments the candidate can rightly take credit for? Probing deeply in the interview. A series of questions such as “What was your biggest challenge? How did you overcome it? What kind of help did you have?” should help you get the real story.
- Technical skills — Beyond official academic training, candidates might exaggerate proficiency in computer programs and other areas. How should you guard against it? If it’s something a position requires, consider giving some kind of test, or making sure you hire someone who had to use those skills in a previous job.
Tags: Background checks, exaggerations, Lee McQueen, References, resume lies, Robert Irvine
June 19th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Great posting, I will be linking to it from our blog. We have a whole series on Resume and CV Fraud.
http://blog.employeescreen.com
June 19th, 2008 at 9:31 am
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June 20th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I had a person lie about their age to get the job… Like it mattered. they said they were 29 when they were 27 and the truth was I was looking for a 22ish person… IDiot…
June 20th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Jeremy - Are you trying to get sued - You by law cannot hire based on age! You could easily have a age-discrimination law suit brought against you especially with the admission on the internet for all to see!
Age can only be considered if it can be proven to be a BFOQ.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Sir, with all do respect and For the record I never said i didnt hire him… becuase I did! I was just giving an example of how someone can lie becuase it seems to help them when the truth was I was looking for young buck and if he would have told me his real age he would have been hired on the spot.
As far as the suing thing goes, its whatever… I hire who I need based on what I need. I dont care if your 20 or 80 if you can do what I need you to do. For example I am not going to hire a 60 year old to stack steel with the rest of us. That in my mind is not discrimation at all. That is good business. I dont know how it works for “office folk” and frankly I am glad that I dont.
Thanks for the advice and good day to all of you’s
Dont take a comment as something it is not…
June 20th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
{I dont care if your 20 or 80} {I am not going to hire a 60 year old} ???
The court of law does not care what is “in the mind” of anyone. If you state you will not hire someone that is 60 to stack steel - that is discrimination. If you state you will not hire someone that cannot lift the required weight - that is a BFOQ.
“Office Folk”, “general labor”, “skilled labor” etc. . . all fall under the same laws.
The admission part that I mentioned, is that you stated you were looking for someone “22ish” there are plenty of 22ish people that are weaker and have less stamina than some 60ish people. By stating that you were “looking for a young buck” you are opening yourself to a potential lawsuit.
I NEVER meant to offend - just help protect you and your company. Take the time to state things in terms that match the job description. If the reasons you disqualify a candidate are based on the job description (and the job description should closely match the job) then no court of law will find you guilty.
BTW what area of the country is your company?
June 20th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
No offense Taken
thanks for the info though I will take it into consideration on my next expansion. It seems that the law you are referring to can be stepped around very easily. Next time I will go with the weight requirement thing. That will seem to work fine for what I do. Good advice…
Home is Texas, but right now we are in Iraq
June 20th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Please be carefull out there - Texas needs to see you come home! America needs to see you come home!!!!
June 20th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
thank you and good day!
June 25th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Jeremy,
Thanks for the wonderful comments. I like to use real life examples when I conduct seminars on effective & legal hiring. I may have to tone down your comments as most people are likely to think I made them up in order to make my point, i.e., exaggerated beyond what anyone involved in hiring would actually say or do.
Take care,