Lying on your resume

Have you ever scrolled through one of your friends’ social media profiles and thought that it looks so curated and immaculate that it barely resembles the person at all?

Resumes, like a person’s Instagram profile, offers a first impression of a person. It’s no surprise that research has indicated 25% of all resumes contain significant lies (1).

Humans love to lie. One study found that people told lies anywhere from 30% to 50% of the time on topics including their feelings, their actions and their plans and whereabouts (2).

The extent of lying in resumes appears to be positively correlated with a person’s seniority, a stratum where there the stakes are significantly higher. A study of Fortune 1000 executives found that 33% of resumes contained fraudulent material or lacked vital information (3). Split by gender is has been found that 67% of males lie, and 33% of females (4). The more rarefied and more senior the level, the more benefit to lying, because it gets more competitive at the senior level (5).

Technology is one sector that has more resume fraud than others, particularly concerning qualifications (3). Those industries that are more close-knit typically have less prevalence of fraud, along with those that have highly rigorous certification and registration systems. The more your personal reputation matters in your industry, the less chance of fraud.

“Within corporate Australia we find the criticality of reputation varies by geography”, says Nick Hurley, Managing Partner at Executive Agents, a Melbourne-based executive branding agency. “The cities where reputation matters more is where there is a really strong sense of community. Perth, WA, being one of the world’s most isolated cities, is a perfect example of this phenomenon.”

Ironically, one of the most common things people lie about is actually the easiest to check – educational qualifications (6). One study has found that one-third of all executives “lie about past degrees, jobs, and responsibilities” (4). Additionally, educational qualifications have been found to be the least checked component of a candidate’s resume or application (7).

But before you fall for the potentially normative social influence of the trend and start considering jumping on the truth-stretching CV bandwagon, there are a number of tools available for employers. Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in sifting through candidates, from Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) through to reference checking software.

In fact a whole industry has popped up proving verification services. Companies such as Xref (www.xref.com) and HireRight (www.hireright.com/apac/) offer a suite of reference checking and employment verification services.

Xref states that “Knowing that the candidate has the qualifications and skills they claim enables you to make informed decisions about their performance in the role. In addition, managers can prepare for managing this individual by knowing important factors about their past work experience.”

If even after taking these new developments into consideration, you feel you still need to incorporate some ‘mistruths’ into your CV in order to build a successful application, make sure you speak to one of the consultants at Executive Agents. We have the creative nous and expressive capabilities to make sure your application shines without having to resort to dishonesty.

Schedule a free consultation today.

Works Cited

1. Lies, lies, and more lies. Prater, Tammy and Kiser, Sara Bliss. 2002, SAM Advanced Management Journal.
2. Negotiating With Liars. Adler, Robert S. 2007, MIT Sloan Management Review.
3. Resume fraud: Lies, Omissions and Exaggerations. Bachler, C. 1995, Personnel Journal, pp. 50-60.
4. Rewriting History: Resume falsification more than a passing fiction. Koehn, D. 1999, Houston Business Journal.
5. Lies in the executive wing. Wah, L. 1999, Management Review.
6. Resume fraud arisin’. Fairchild, D. 1995, Kansas City Business Journal.
7. True or false? Edwards, A. 1998, Business Journal: Serving Jacksonville & Northeast Florida.

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