Competition for jobs is high, and many candidates will go to great lengths to stand out — including lie to you.

Here are some of the latest resume tweaks, according FakeResume.com, a Web site that advises job seekers on how to bend the truth and get away with it:

1. Covering up employment gaps

Many candidates are concerned about explaining periods when they were out of work. FakeResume’s recommendation: Pretend you were volunteering.

It’s a lot tougher to verify volunteer work than employment history. But if you’re suspicious, don’t brush over the issue. Ask probing questions about the work and, if possible, check references at the organization.

Another tactic to cover employment gaps or inflate experience is the so-called “functional resume,” which lists experience and accomplishments grouped by type, followed by a list of previous employers, rather than a chronological list of past positions. Not everyone who uses a functional resume is lying — but it might put you on alert.

2. Fake references

Most resume lies can be caught by checking references — so candidates who are serious about their dishonesty will provide references that are fake or impossible to check.

FakeResume recommends candidates provide the name and phone number of a fictitious supervisor at a large company. The number actually belongs to a friend who pretends to be an admin and tells the caller the company only provides references via letter. The candidate then mails a fake reference letter.

Candidates also place “typos” in a former employer’s address or phone number, hoping HR won’t bother when they can’t contact the person.

If you’re concerned about the references someone gives, experts recommend finding the company’s Web site and contacting the supervisor through the main phone number.

3. Phony responsibilities

Most fraudulent resumes don’t contain outright lies. More often, candidates stretch the truth, beefing up previous titles and exaggerating the responsibilities they had in previous positions.

The best way to catch those fibs is to ask detailed questions and not let the candidate off easy if you get vague or suspicious answers. Another tactic: Bring in somebody who’s already doing a job similar to the one the person’s applying for. Dishonest applicants will try to fake their way through an interview using buzzwords and generalities but break down when someone who’s actually experienced in the field asks for details.

Of course, the first step is to follow your company’s established practices. If the policy is to only verify dates and titles, do that with all reference calls — making exceptions to bad mouth one individual could lead to a bias claim.

Some other tips for handling these situations:

1. When possible, warn departing employees if you won’t be able to provide a positive reference.
2. Stick to documented facts. For example, explaining the former employee failed to meet a quota is a safer bet than a vague statement such as, “He was lazy.”
3. If the employee hasn’t worked at your company for a few years, you can simply say enough time has passed that you aren’t comfortable giving a reference.
4. Don’t deliver false praise or withhold vital information, such as safety concerns. In one recent court case, a company was sued after one manager gave a glowing reference about a doctor who was fired for using drugs on the job. The company was held liable after the doctor killed a patient while working for his new employer.

Have you ever been contacted for a reference about a difficult or poor-performing former employee? How did you respond? Tell us your experience in the comments section below.

Most companies will only verify titles and employment dates, according to a recent About.com survey.

When asked how they respond to reference requests, here’s how the companies answered:

• 74% said the requests are forwarded to HR reps, who only release minimal information
• 11% said their companies didn’t have a formal policy
• 5% said HR staff will fill out a rating form another employer provides and speak with someone at the other company
• 4% said managers fill out the form and do the talking, and
• 4% said the usual response was “Other.”

Is there anything HR can do to get more help from candidates’ previous employers?

Some experts recommend having the hiring manager call the former supervisor directly. One boss talking to another may get a conversation going. However, they also must be trained so they don’t ask for anything that could lead to a bias claim if someone isn’t hired.

What about your organization? Have you figured out a way to make reference checks more valuable? Let us know your experience by leaving a comment below.

On one hand, there are some tricky legal waters to tread, so some experts say it’s best left to HR.

But on the other hand, some say references give more information when they’re talking to a peer (another manager) than to someone in HR. Also, they say, HR can train managers on how to avoid legal problems.

Who checks the references at your company? Do you think managers or HR should be in charge?

Let us know by leaving us a comment.

An anesthesiologist was fired after he was caught using narcotics at work. But when he tried to get another job two months later, his old boss told the new employer he was “an excellent clinician” and “would be an asset to any anesthesia service.”

After he was hired by the new company, he came to work high and almost killed a patient. The patient sued and won $8 million. So that company sued the man’s old employer — and won.

Reference check liability

A lot of companies choose not to give references at all, and just confirm employment dates and titles. If that’s what the supervisor in this case had done, the company might’ve been in the clear.

But the court made a distinction between not giving a reference and knowingly giving a false reference. As the judge said, once the supervisor volunteered to give any information about the employee’s performance, he was obligated to tell the whole truth.

Cite: Kadlec Medical Center v. Lakeview Anesthesia Associates

Question:

When we call potential employees references, they often refuse to do anything more than verify employment dates and positions. Is there any way we can get them to tell us more about the people we’re thinking about hiring?

Answer:

The first thing you can try is asking the applicants for help. That’s the advice of Mel Kleiman, author of Recruit Smarter, Not Harder.

Tell applicants that some of the people they listed are reluctant to talk about them. Ask if they could give the references permission to speak freely when you call. Sometimes that’s enough to get a real conversation going.

Also, during the interview, you can ask candidates what they think their references will say about them. Then when you call someone’s former boss, you aren’t stuck asking open-ended questions like, How would you rate Johns dependability?

Instead you can say something like, John told me you’d rate him as highly dependable, because he did (blank). Can you confirm that?

Questions like that are easier for references to answer, and at the very least, it’s a good way to get some back-up for what people say in the interview.