Should You Lie on your Resumé?

Surveys indicate that anywhere from 23 to 45 percent of all résumés being circulated contain significant fabrications. The areas most frequently embellished are education and dates of previous employment. It is not hard to figure out why some people resort to this in a competitive job market.

People who resort to this are unaware that prospective employers are increasingly checking out all the facts cited on a résumé. An ever-increasing number of companies are now contracting out with firms who check the veracity of résumés.

When people are caught in a lie, their chances of getting the job instantly drop to zero, while those who have already been hired using a less-than-truthful résumé are subject to immediate dismissal. That is not all. In the US, employers have been known to file lawsuits against people who've lied on their résumés in order to recover expenses involved in recruiting, interviewing and/or hiring that person. They have sometimes even won punitive damages. Clearly, lying on one's résumé is a risky and dangerous matter.