Lying on your resume can be tempting. Perhaps you know,
without any doubt, that you have the skills and abilities
an employer is looking for. You just don't have the degree.
So, you are considering exaggerating the semester of
coursework you took 15 years ago, into a degree. Is lying
too strong of a word? Perhaps you are more comfortable
saying that you embellished your resume, stretched the
truth, or slightly overstated your qualifications. Are
those phrases more comfortable for you? After all, doesn't
everyone do a little "polishing" or "padding" of their
qualifications to make themselves look better on a resume?
Unfortunately, if you believe the above, your perception is
partially true. Surveys indicate that lying on resumes does
appear to be on the rise. According to a survey conducted
by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), more
than 60% of all HR professionals report finding
inaccuracies on the resumes that come across their desks.
An inaccuracy may not necessarily be a lie. But, an
inaccuracy is enough to call your character into question
and be the cause of you losing a job offer that you were in
the running for, or to be dismissed from a job that you are
already in.
That's right. Call it what you may - a lie, an inaccuracy,
or an embellishment - exaggerating or inflating your
qualifications on your resume can bring an otherwise
successful career to a halt. If you have any doubt of this,
all you have to do is look to the news where there have
been several high-profile cases over the last couple of
years, of individuals losing their jobs after a lie on
their resume was detected.
The sad part is, as most professional resume writers and
career coaches will tell you, that the lies and
embellishments are simply not necessary. If well crafted,
your resume will highlight your true accomplishments,
qualifications, and talents and will downplay any potential
weaknesses. Your resume will remain absolutely truthful
while still portraying you as a competitive candidate for
the jobs you are targeting.
Do you have problem areas or potential weaknesses that you
are concerned about how to handle on your resume? The first
steps are to recognize those weaknesses and problems for
what they are and then to set them aside for a moment,
while you take a bigger-picture look at your professional
background. Your resume is a marketing document, and as in
all marketing and advertising, your goal is to emphasize
and promote your skills, talents, strengths, and potential
value add in relation to your job target.
Many times, the solution to dealing with a potential
weakness is all in how you structure and format your
resume. Think of your resume as being structured similar to
a pyramid. The most important and relevant information that
you want to emphasize should be presented at the peak of
the pyramid - at the beginning of the resume. The
information that you want to de-emphasize and downplay
should be at the bottom of the pyramid - at the end of the
resume.
You should also consider the design of your resume. By
thinking creatively and strategically about the way you
format your resume and apply various design elements (such
as underlining, bolding, or white space), you can draw the
readers' eyes to the data and elements that you want to
emphasize, while the negatives fade almost unnoticed into
the background. You must be honest on your resume, but
there is no reason that you must or should emphasize the
problem areas!
Maybe you don't have the exact experience that an employer
is seeking, but you do have experience that shows how you
have used these skills in another context. Reframing
experience to bring transferable skills to the forefront of
your resume in a way that will be understandable to a
future employer is a smart move. Likewise, being selective
about what you include in your resume is also smart, as
well as being ethical. Always think in terms of relevance
and impact. Don't confuse your reader with irrelevant
experience, qualifications that are not a match for your
focus, out-of-date experience, or achievements that don't
support your value proposition. Your resume is a marketing
piece - an advertisement - it is not an autobiography. You
don't need to and shouldn't try to include everything.
Most importantly, you should take a close look at the
experience you do have and the very real contributions that
you made for your past employers. It is very important to
place the emphasis of your resume on achievements,
quantifying results whenever possible. Document the ways in
which your work have benefited your employers, ideally
presenting the challenges, the actions, and the results of
each situation. Through past achievements and results, you
demonstrate your future potential and value. Always
remember, you won't get hired for what you KNOW how to do,
you will get hired for what you DO with what you KNOW how
to do. At the root, every single job is designed to solve a
problem, save money, make money, or improve efficiency. Use
past examples to clearly demonstrate that you have the
proven ability to accomplish these goals for your future
employers, and you WILL be called for an interview
regardless of any possible weaknesses.
The consequences of lying on your resume just aren't worth
it! Companies are growing increasingly savvy to this
problem and even if your lies aren't immediately detected,
you will be found out eventually through background checks.
But with an honest assessment of what you bring to the
table, lying on your resume is simply not necessary. You
can let the truth shine through! By following the steps
outlined in this article, and thinking creatively about
ethical strategies you can use to promote your strengths
while downplaying your weaknesses, you will find that it is
possible to be absolutely truthful will still presenting as
a top candidate. And, if you need help, don't hesitate to
call on a professional resume writer. Your career may
depend on it!
----------------------------------------------------
Nationally certified resume writer and career marketing
expert, Michelle Dumas is the director of Distinctive
Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents
http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP
Services http://www.100kcareermarketing.com
Michelle has
empowered thousands of professionals all across the U.S.
and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of 101
Before-and-After Resume Examples
http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com
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