Over 53% of candidates lie on their resume
- 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.
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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Could it possibly be because that is the only way they will be interviewed?
I know that I myself have resisted this.
But sometimes I wonder if I chose the right path?
Honesty is always the best way to go. Like Lowell said, lies will eventually rise to the surface and could get you into some trouble.
Recruiters seem to actively encourage this. I've had them tell me that if you don't hit the majority of the keywords, your resume gets tossed. You are expected, almost required, to provide a distorted view of your experience, tailored to make you appear to be an “exact fit” for the job you're applying for, with creative embellishment to hit more keywords. If this is the way the game is played, then I can understand why so many people are in jobs they are barely competent to perform, and so many better qualified (but honest) people are still looking for work.
100% of Employers lie about what they will pay you.
25 percent list companies that no longer exist
Well why should that be a negative regarding
experience? Many companies cease to exist as
time goes by.
I think it more a serious issue that many honest
and talented people get shuffled or ignored all
the time. My experience has been that when
a technical type reads and absorbs it tends to
be positive.
I can't blame those that embellish but integrity is
quite important to me both professionally and
personally.
So, I suffer the consequence of that, I guess.
Re: Recruiters and wording…
-if the facts are true, it does not hurt to use the appropriate words to reflect your history and capabilities. My initial degree was in Data Processing but that term isn't used any more… the degree stands but the description of things in it have changed with the times
-often different companies (and industries) will use varied or different buzzwords to describe similar skill sets. IMO, it's OK for your info to “wear the appropriate clothes” if indeed the content is still legit.
Never lie on a resume, that way you can always look yourself in the mirror. The issue on “changing words” has come from many recruiters. To have a list of key words is beneficial, but some recruiters want you to totally rewrite every resume for each job posting. This makes it easier for those who must match up resumes to job openings, but distorts what you have done historically. It can be a gray area as you try to translate for individual companies. However, the facts still must be facts and not creative writing on degrees or accomplishments.
i never intended this article to be negative. Rather attempt to educate recruiters on how to catch lies in resumes. If recruiters take the time necessary to trust what the candidates says and then verify its true…people that lie will not get the recommendation for the job. At the same time, the candidates that do not lie have a better chance of getting the job..since they can verify what they say they can do. So overall, i wrote this article to help the candidates that are truthful..those are the ones that deserve the interview. I never intended for the article to be negative.
I agree there must be a reason behind this thinking, the tough job market perhaps, but I am surprised that there is such a massive lack of integrity in the job seeker population,. It also seems to be an indicator that the assumption is HR will not follow up or call references on applicants.
Companies no longer existing is not a cause for alarm in itself since it happens so often now, however, this report is certainly disturbing. But I loved the video!
is it bad that i am having to deflate my previous salaries to even be considered? is that lying?
It seems odd including “companies that no longer exist” among the other ethically sketchy items in the list. A successful acquisition shouldn't be perceived as a bad thing. Should it?
This is really subjective. If I highlight all the hurdles and such that I have overcome to make myself stand out on my resume, does it mean that I am lying because I don't/can't do that every day?
64 percent of all the world's statistics are made up right there on the spot
82.4 percent of people believe 'em whether they're accurate statistics or not
I wonder what percentage of HR professionals misrepresent candidates to employers or employers to candidates. I imagine it'd probably be somewhere north of zero.
If you have an item on your resume that you have done, its not lying.
These are the statistics that I found. The stats are from fairly credited associates. Are they accurate? Probably not 100%, but there is some truth to the numbers and I am sure you can attest to that.
I have seen this done over and over. I have even seen recruiters flat out lie to their managers about a candidate. But the majority that practice this, don't last long in the industry. A recruiter is only as good as their recommendation and if you are lying about a candidate it will catch up to you.
As far as companies lying to a candidate. That is a very bad practice and not a foundation you want to build/maintain a company on.
Well there's my problem right there. I've been honest and that puts me at a disadvantage!
I agree. This is why (some)recruiters and (some) managers need to be taught what to look for. All I know is if someone lies to me, they will not get my recommendation.
I have been getting a lot of negative responses from the article(from everywhere). This was not my intent when I was writing it. I was hopping to help educate my peers and hiring managers on what to keep an eye out for.
Maybe my next one should be about the pressure companies create that makes a candidate consider lying on their resume.
I agree there must be a reason behind this thinking, the tough job market perhaps, but I am surprised that there is such a massive lack of integrity in the job seeker population,. It also seems to be an indicator that the assumption is HR will not follow up or call references on applicants.
Companies no longer existing is not a cause for alarm in itself since it happens so often now, however, this report is certainly disturbing. But I loved the video!
A though job market, companies wanting one person to have 10 different skill sets, recruiters not verifying the info they receive, people just needing jobs and doing everything they can to get one. (some possible reasons)
I will never recommend someone who has lied to me…but maybe we are creating added pressure to candidates to be all world and feel like they have to lie.
I think this is quite true in my experience
But how about listing the lies told by recruiters to both clients and candidates
At the end of the day recruit for attitude and train for skils
that will be my next article. We will turn the tide a look at recruiters and companies that are not 100% honest to candidates. stay posted.
To be frank, I don't get it. I'm not sure the job market is tougher than is has been. Particularly in answering postings.
How do we get to 53% from the numbers listed here? How big was the sample size?
1) “Misleading” Anything factual thing can be misleading taken out of context. Is this supposed to mean “intentionally misleading”? I can fully believe that 80% of recruiters don't take the time to fully understand the resumes they have and talk out of the wrong orifice when the represent their “clients”.
2) Fraudulent degrees are just stupid. Easily checked.
3) Altered dates to cover having been previously laid off? Really? People still do this? As if being laid off was some kind of black mark these days?
4) Inflated salary claims… Like this is new? Additionally, offers should be market driven. If you can get someone too cheaply – they just leave when times (and offers) get better. If they get you to pay a premium, then, well, they better be prepared to deliver or they'll be looking for a new paycheck again. Appropriate offers should be made commensurate with the work.
5) In accurate job descriptions. These should be able to be sorted out in the interview.
6) Companies that no longer exist. I suspect this is combined with some of the other items on the list so that the information is harder to check (since there's no one to call). I agree that actually working for a company that no longer exists should not be a black mark.
7) It's silly to think that these days people won't check your references.
Do people game the system? Absolutely.
Interesting that these days it seems the recruiters are worried about the false data. I had several recruiters in the past (that I did not use) attempt to rewrite my resume and submit it for me so I would not be screened out….
Now a days I rely on my network fully believing that 80% of the jobs are not posted.
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I think if you're in the 10% that are unemployed in the US, particularly if your whole industry is in trouble, it is tough indeed. Particularly coupled with the drop in the housing market. Being out of a job, with an artificially high burn rate, skills not in demand, and unable to sell your house for the size of the note, I would say that folks might be feeling more pressure than at other times. So the job market is not tougher, but desperation might be higher.
Perhaps thought should be given by recruiters to do more than simply match keywords in a statistics game? If recruiters decided to get to know the potential employees that they claim to represent, and become familiar with both their histories and skill sets, potential employees could be matched to positions they are actually qualified for instead of acting as an inefficient filter. For that matter, I would like to see recruiters that actually understood what they were recruiting for instead of just repeating what they read on paper.
Alex…great info. You are 100% correct. 3rd party recruiters get jobs from their customers and don't take the time to truly understand what they are even looking for. They look for key words on job boards and see what pops up. There is very little..if any prep work before they begin calling potential candidates. In return, the recruiter reads you the job description and then asks you if you can do the job. If you can, the recruiter will “coach” you into the job…sometimes lying to get you in the door.
DISCLAIMER: Not all 3rd party recruiters are like this.
Alex…great info. You are 100% correct. 3rd party recruiters get jobs from their customers and don't take the time to truly understand what they are even looking for. They look for key words on job boards and see what pops up. There is very little..if any prep work before they begin calling potential candidates. In return, the recruiter reads you the job description and then asks you if you can do the job. If you can, the recruiter will “coach” you into the job…sometimes lying to get you in the door.
DISCLAIMER: Not all 3rd party recruiters are like this.
Interest . . . if you are lying to others, you are lying to yourself.
Yes, there is pressure – but I have a question about the statement about companies that don't exist anymore. I worked there , and as long as I didn't take the company down, why shouldn't that company be mentioned. For example, I owned a company for 17 years, sold it and it subsequently closed. I could not explain away those years otherwise.
I'm a hiring manager and had something interesting happen to me just today. I had a very well known technical staffing firm submit a candidate to me today that someone else from the same company submitted to me last week. That in it's self isn't strange. What is. First the bill rate went up by 15% and secondly the company added in keywords of the skillset that I was looking for in the second submittal which I could tell didn't really apply to the job descriptions from their resume.
This of course is after two different “bait and switch” schemes they pulled last week. Email goes out describing a candidate, I immediately reply and “I'm sorry that candidate just took a job in Austin” mere minutes after the email goes out.
I've been hiring people long enough to know when a firm is playing me and (doesn't happen too much) but the fact that it does is sad. I've found the most success building a relationship with a few firms and leaning on that to fill any openings I have.