Should you ever lie on your resume?

When an employer is looking to hire they are considering many options and when you are applying there is no doubt you are being compared with possible better qualified people.

Because of this, and because people want to get ahead of competition it is common for someone to make up information about themselves to seem like they are the best candidate.

So what are people lying about on their resume's?

Studies show that the most common qualities people tend to lie about is their skill set, and work experience.

What these people don't realize is how easy it is for an employer to make a simple phone call and disprove any false claims. Also for the lies you tell about a skill set for example, if you apply knowing you have no experience working with cars yet claimed to, you are at a dead end the first day when you are left to work alone.

I am human and I make mistakes, I might do something wrong in the heat of a moment and regret it later. That is not the same as writing a resume where you can pre-mediate the entire thing.

I am not saying "be robotic", you should be creative and if you want to "stretch the truth", but do not make up skills you don't have, or create work experience out of thin air. That isn't acceptable by employers, and what you are actually doing is hurting yourself.

Hard facts versus soft facts

Saying that you had a job at BMW for example is a hard fact, saying that you had a job at a car company is a soft fact. The reason you should know how to differentiate the two is because you can get away with the second one if it is true but the first one is not going to be forgiven if you are caught. If I were you I would avoid coming up with fake facts that aren't true at all that are too easy to prove dishonest. When you are trying to lie to cover up something you think is embarrassing on your resume, do not include them.

Think outside of the box

It is up to you to organize your resume, so be creative about it and think in ways that are going to make you look appealing and honest. This can be done by thinking outside of the box instead of telling a lie. Imagine you worked in the past as a waiter and have experience taking orders and keeping and organizing notes. These are some of the same skills that can be used in an office environment if you wanted to entirely change career paths. Point being common skills and experiences apply to all jobs, all it takes is a creative and not dishonest person to display this.

In the end you are only hurting yourself by trying to make yourself look better telling lies in your resume. If you have to only stretch certain truths that will give you a better look and benefit you in the long run. Use your sense of judgement as to what is right and wrong for your resume, and only use claims that you can prove.

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