The importance of being truthful

A recent survey by OfficeTeam raises some questions about the level of truth on many resumes. In response to the question "Do you know anyone who misrepresented or exaggerated information on his or her resume?" 44% of respondents said yes. Equally notable in a question put only to managers 47% said that applicants misrepresent or exaggerate information some of or all of the time. All of which suggests that many people do lie on their resumes but that employers "expect" this. At least to a point.

For many people whether or not to lie/spin/misrepresent or exaggerate information in their resume is a difficult question. This can be especially true in an "employers" market, as is the case currently, when the number of job seekers exceeds the number of available positions. It can be difficult to get people to discuss the subject but in most cases it happens because candidates feel that they won't land a job without stretching the truth. And in at least some cases they feel that part of the reason they can't land a job without lying is that their competition for the job is already lying. It's a vicious circle and not a good thing.

But if you do feel that way should you do it? Is it ever justifiable?

In a word no. And here's three reasons why.

First there is the basic moral reason. No matter how you try and justify it lying is wrong. In fact if you do it because you think others are it's almost worse because you are increasing the depth of the problem. It shouldn't be forgotten that good job isn't just a job but part of your career, aka part of your life. There is a personal cost you will pay if you treat cynicism and lack of truthfulness as part of your job. It's simply not part of the recipe of a happy work-life balance.

Second, you stand a good chance of being caught. The increasing power of the internet and the information available and accessible to all and more companies are conducting full background and reference checks on candidates before making offers. Conducting due diligence on candidates is now considered not just a best practice but a required one for many organizations. Another way to think about this is consider would you as an employer rather work for an organization that followed best practices for hiring or not?

Third, it's a small world, at least in Canada. The potential of being caught lying on your resume and the penalties for doing so are greater than you might think they are at first glance. You should consider how being caught in a lie at company A in a given industry may be found out by companies B and C in the same industry. You run the risk of not just blowing your chances with one company but several in the same industry or vertical.

It is also important to remember that the recruiting/hiring and staffing industries in Canada are even more closely knit. A recruiter at one company may be working in a totally different company in a totally different industry the next year. And that's not even taking into consideration the network of people that recruiter may talk to, and with the nature of recruiting that's likely to be a very large network indeed.

The risk of damage to your reputation in your career can be very high for any severely negative employment related incident, including being dishonest on your resume. Simply it isn't a risk worth taking. That's besides the fact that again it's morally wrong and likely to make you unhappy even if you were lucky enough to "get away" with it.