Common resume
misrepresentations
Many candidates 'enhance' their résumés to distinguish
themselves from their perceived competition. Misrepresentation is
often discovered when it is too late to reverse the negative
consequences of an adverse employment decision.
- Educational qualifications: listing degrees
not attained or schools not attended.
- Employment history: stretching out employment
dates to hide periods of unemployment or omit unsatisfactory
periods of employment.
- Salary and job title: embellishing previous
job titles and salaries to strengthen negotiating position with
prospective employers.
- Responsibilities and achievements: including
management and leadership capabilities or exaggerating sales,
profit and growth achievements.
- Criminal convictions: omitting convictions to
dilute any doubt regarding honesty and reliability.
Compounding the issue is the increasing trend for organisations
to become more reliant on engaging candidates from abroad. It is
more likely and easier for a candidate to misrepresent personal and
professional information because the perception, often matched by
the reality, is that it is too difficult for their prospective
employer to check their background.
