• 80 percent of all resumes are misleading
• 20 percent state fraudulent degrees
• 30 percent show altered employment dates
• 40 percent have inflated salary claims
  
• 30 percent have inaccurate job descriptions
• 27 percent give falsified references

We are inundated with hundreds of resumes a week. We have to review them quickly, accurately, and try to  catch any LIES. According to research conducted by The Society of Human Resource Managers, over 53% of individuals lie about their resume in some way.

Lying on resumes is becoming more and more common. When college students were asked in the same study by the Human Resource Managers, over 70% said they would lie on their resumes to land their dream job. Would you? Derek Johnson, former executive recruiter, believes that lying on your resume nowadays is necessary to compete for your ideal position. He has written a guide and launched www.fakeresume.com. The resources are available and are making it more complex to find the right candidate for any position.

So how do we target these lies efficiently? Below are 9 of the most common areas where lies will appear on resumes.

Make sure to check theses areas before you make your recommendation:

1. Job title/Role: Is the title inflated? How many directors can one company have?
   
2. Job Requirements: Do the responsibilities match the role? Are they embellished?
3. Financial Success: Has the candidate exaggerated on the revenue brought in or financial benefits to make themselves appear more successful?
4. Dates of Employment: Are they accurate? Have they been tampered to remove gaps of unemployment?
   
5. Certification or degree: Did the candidate complete, fail, or drop out? Was the degree listed attained? Can this be confirmed?
6. Previous salary : Does the salary mach the role and responsibilities? Check W-2 history.
7. Reason for leaving previous employer: Does the wording mask poor performance, or a conflict situation?
8. Academic dates: Has the candidate changed these to cover failed or repeated subjects?
9. Technical abilities: Is the candidate exaggerating? Does the candidate really understand ASP.NET?

Overall, you need to look for any embellishments or exaggerations in the resume. If you have a question about an item, just ask. You can acquire a lot of information from their answer…or sometimes their lack of an answer. Throughout the whole recruitment life-cycle you need to take a “trust and verify” approach. Most candidates will be more than happy to help you gather all the necessary information. If they are not, this could be a red flag to move on.

What do you think? What type of lies have you seen? Write below.

Top 9 Resume lies to look out for

Thanks San Antonio!
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Christopher McGill impacts businesses by giving companies access to the best and the brightest within the IT and Leadership Profession. He provides 360 degree full service talent management solution that help companies hire with precision & insight. Premiere Staffing and Recruiting.

What they are saying: “Chris is the example of what I expect a recruiter to be.”
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