Never Lie or Embellish the “Real You” When Writing Your Resume

I have been in the People Business for over 26 years and in this span of time have read, along with my staff, over 30,000 resumes. These have come from people in every segment of the work force but primarily, these resumes are from Executives and Managers. You would think the people that have attained this level of success would understand that honesty is always the best policy when writing their resume. Yet, too often I find this not to be true. Many people either lie or embellish their resumes which often can, and most often, does lead to problems. If caught in a lie, it can lead to a loss of your salary and job, a professional business license, or even worse, your integrity and credibility. Many people do it so often that in many cases, what was once a lie now becomes reality….in their mind, and then what happens is it becomes harder for them to separate fact from fiction. I see this most often with Education. People lie about degrees, years they graduated or attended College, and most often that they attended College, got a degree when in fact, they never attended at all. It is so easy for a prospective employer to check on educational background with all the on-line services, that lying about one’s education is most definitely the “road to career ruin”. The other area many people embellish are dates they list as having worked in a particular job and/or company. They try to erase gaps in employment due to a layoff or termination. Again, most prospective employers due reference checks, and not always with the people the prospective employee lists. At times, a call into a former company is made without any knowledge of the potential new employee. The bottom line is never lie and never embellish. You never know where, or when, you will run into someone from your old company who has something to tell different then the story you tell on your resume.