Many of us have heard or read the stories about people lying on their resumes, the jobs they claim to have had but never did, the degrees they gained from schools they never attended. The truth, however, is that oftentimes these lies work, they get the job, and by the time they’re found out we as honest applicants have still missed out on that role.
And there are dozens more at very high levels who have done this and been caught. The really interesting part is how big some of the lies are, one instance I’m familiar with the individual lied about having a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics – for those unfamiliar this is a very highly regarded school. As effective as lying on your resume is, it’s something that I simply don’t do. Instead, I provide evidence about my achievements. Perhaps not surprisingly qualifications are one of the most commonly lied about items of resumes, indeed in one study, it was revealed that 21% of resumes claim qualifications the person simply doesn’t have.
As I have qualifications it's really easy to provide evidence that I have them. For example, I’ve put a link to my master's thesis on this very website and will often do so in my resume, and if you’re really interested you can see my name on page 12 of the graduation program. Now, this isn’t me showing off, lots of people have degrees and or amazing experiences, rather this is me providing evidence that I actually have what I state I have. I’m also upfront on my LinkedIn profile (by the way if you’re on LinkedIn please feel free to connect with me) about what I’ve done and where I’ve worked, and I’ve made this all public – people can view my full profile without even having to log in to LinkedIn.
People lying on their resumes and winning roles is something that those of us who are honest simply have to live with, my way of combating this is to provide evidence that clearly demonstrates what I’m stating is true.
I hope that’s helpful for all the other honest applicants. For those who are lying, do the hard yards and get the qualifications or experience you’re lying about it, it really is worth it.