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Lying on your CV

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5/8/06
Messages
80
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16
Lying on your CV by Quantnet's MVP Dominic

http://www.wilmott.com/blogs/dcfc/index.cfm/2006/10/9/Lying-on-your-CV

An article on the BBC today, reminded me of one of the occasional pains of being a pimp. Lying on CVs http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5414938.stm

A friend of mine was a director of a firm that did background checking, and even though she was honest enough to admit they didn't dig that hard, there were still many people caught. We've come across a couple of people who went beyond "exaggeration" to a point where we could not put them forward for any job. These days it's easy to check up academic records, as well when & where you worked. It's common, though dangerous to lie about your pay, since these days there are enough tax records for that to end badly. Certainly there is a degree of exaggeration that is relatively hard to catch, but it can often do you more harm than good. If you set a high expectation, then you have a lot to live up to at interview, and if you get the job, you may well find yourself well out of your depth. It's tough enough doing a job well, let alone where your boss thinks you've more depth than you have. And yes, before you ask, we do occasionally see people who clearly aren't telling the truth, and it's more sad than anything.
 
This is very important issue. I understand why people lie a little just to get themselves an interview. It's quite common. In fact, i have heard from many people that they put skills on their resume just to match a job qualification requirements and then go buy a book to scram before interview.

Easy things to spot if someone lies on their resume: GPA, former employers, salary, job functions,etc. All it took is a call or some electronic records.

It's very tempting to put skills on your resume that you barely read about, tried once, etc...So I guess it's better safe than sorry. I'm sure when you go to interview, they will drill every little details on your resume. If you put some skills on your resume and can't show basic knowledge of it, oh well...
 
In Fooled By Randomness there is a story about people putting the ability to play chess on their resume, and then having to play someone during an interview. So the idea is not to do these things at all. Dont lie about anything, ever. Unless we're talking about not hurting someone's feelings lying is not a good idea. Which reminds me, I need to delete chess from my resume :) I do play but I am definitely worse than average for now.
 
We once didn't hire someone who seemed like a great fit. He wrote that he graduated with honors but put a GPA that didn't qualify him! :wall
 
Is this person an international? Assessment in UK or Asia is quite different from the US. We don't go by GPA, so if you do a direct conversion, there is disparity.
 
Sangfroid said:
Is this person an international? Assessment in UK or Asia is quite different from the US. We don't go by GPA, so if you do a direct conversion, there is disparity.

Nope. American from NYU.
 
Leo's company just fired an IT guy, saying that he lied on his previous salary. So, I would agree with Mike, be honest on your cv.
 
woody said:
He wrote that he graduated with honors but put a GPA that didn't qualify him! :wall
Good catch. Unless it's noted on your official transcript, don't freely add Honors, top 5%, sigma cum laude,magna cum laude, cum laude,etc... to your resume. Distinctions may even differ from school to school and country to country. When unsure, don't put it on resume.
So make sure to look at the resume again, make changes and send it to Prof. Stefanica again if needed. :D
Just to play the safe card, I won't put on my resume any skill that I can't talk about or demonstrate expertly. We can always mention at the interview about something not on the resume. Getting asked about some skill on the resume and not able to answer is a BAD, BAD thing.
 
I agree!!!!

Yes, I totally agree...BE HONEST. As the saying goes, "Honesty is the best policy". Some people live by the motto "Fake it until you make it". :smt018 I just think that is wrong and very misleading. I remembered during my job hunt season, people would advise me to fake it until you make it. But, I personally did not feel like doing that...it is either I know how to do a particular task or I don't. Either you like what I have to offer or you do not...it is that simple. And secondly, Nelisa's "little" secret...I CAN'T lie at all. You will know it in an instant....so my policy is "Relax....and just be you!" :smt020
 
We did have one candidate who came *that* close to getting put forward with a good recommendation.
But, something about his last job but one, seemed just a little too good, and implied that he'd taken a stop down for his current one.
That happens, but is worth investigating.
Made a couple of calls, and it turned out that he'd basically "upgraded" an internship to a whole job.

What's sad is that we didn't really care about the other job, and in my opinion he could have doen the one we were filling.
 
Do you tell them why they were not given the job? Question is, what happens after they were found out? Blacklisted? Left on the 5 foot way none the wiser?
 
Personally, I think there is a level of trust that gets lost so I do not think one would want to work with that person. The candidate moves on, however, there is one caveat. The industry is not that large so you may get blacklisted though without anyone actually putting you on any kind of list.
 
It is so tempting to insert a little lie to help get noticed in this competitive job market. But don't forget honesty is the best policy. Lying on your resume can be very harmful . It is an illegal act to lie about your experience, qualifications, references etc. It will do more harm than good in the long run. You will never be completely at ease in any job, knowing that your employer might discover the truth -- and fire you on the spot.
 
It is so tempting to insert a little lie to help get noticed in this competitive job market. But don't forget honesty is the best policy. Lying on your resume can be very harmful . It is an illegal act to lie about your experience, qualifications, references etc. It will do more harm than good in the long run. You will never be completely at ease in any job, knowing that your employer might discover the truth -- and fire you on the spot.

What if the firm lies about the role ? Does it get blacklisted.

Thats the asymmetry of life. Deal with it.
 
What if the firm lies about the role ? Does it get blacklisted.

Thats the asymmetry of life. Deal with it.

Let's be frank: honesty is not the best policy. Unless you believe you will be rewarded in the hereafter. But the choice between honesty and falsehood is not black-and-white: that would be exceedingly naive. Rather the truth slopes away into falsehood by almost imperceptible degrees. Start with the unadorned bald truth, then put undue emphasis on some areas likely to appeal to potential employers, then embellish and exaggerate a little bit, then make up a little stuff here and there -- to fill in the gaps, so to speak. You're a bit rusty in C++, so you use some euphemisms to cover it up, you elide over the rustiness. So where exactly does the truth end and falsehood start? I have no idea. Everyone puts their best foot forward in a resume or at an interview -- often this means covering up gaps, or assigning exaggerated importance to trivial assignments. Where exactly does lying begin? I know not.

If you tell the unadorned truth, you will be dismissed as a simpleton. Potential employees lie. Interviewers lie to these potential employees. Senior executives lie. Politicians lie. Product advertisements lie. We are immersed in an ocean of lies. And people are still saying honesty is the best policy?
 
But don't forget honesty is the best policy.

Hmmm, well ... Now who said:

1) I smoked but didn't inhale, and
2) I did not have sex with that woman

and who said:

1) Saddam has WMD, and
2) Saddam and Obama are sleeping together.

And what punishment has been meted out to these two scoundrels?
 
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