If a 22-year-old submits a resume claiming to have three college degrees, including one in brain surgery, to have earned an average of a million dollars a year, and says they’re a team player with extensive management experience, you’d be reasonable to be suspicious.
Could be true, but 75% of hiring managers say they have come across some exaggerations, some falsehoods, some white lies and some outright doozies while reviewing applicants’ resumes.
Mostly people stretch the truth, says business consultant and career coach Tracy Timm. “If you’re going to see lying on a resume, it’s likely that people aren’t going to make up entire jobs or entire companies. They’re probably going to be stretch the truth about what their roles and responsibilities included.”
Hiring managers report that incidents of dishonesty on resumes is up 20% compared to just three years ago. Timm suggests hiring managers ask applicants to share stories about specific jobs and experiences as a way of weeding out fabricators.
Service employees are the most inclined to invent at 73%, followed closely by hospitality workers and then those in IT and health care tied for third at 63%.