Should you lie on the resume?

According to HireRight’s 2018 Employment Screening Benchmark Report, more than 80 percent of employers caught applicants lying on their resumes or applications, up from 66 percent five years ago. Giving in the temptation to lie when applying for a job is not worth the risk. You could miss out on an incredible job offer, damage your reputation, or even get fired. End of story.

History of full of examples of high-level executives who lost their positions and their reputations after being caught telling a few whoppers to weasel their way into a job. If you’re reading this, you already know it’s not ideal to lie on the resume. The problem that is some people think it’s perfectly OK to stretch the truth on the resume. This is big, however, if you add a job or two to make your resume look better. The company you’re interviewing with would want you to fill out a job application where you are legally affirming your dates of employment and your employment history. The company may verify those dates with your previous employer.

According to CareerBuilder survey, here’s what job-seeker lie about most often:

Embellished skill sets: 62 percent

Embellished responsibilities: 54 percent

Dates of employment: 39 percent

Job titles: 31 percent

Academic degrees: 28 percent

Think about it. More than half the people you know might be guilty of embellishing skill sets on their resume. Does this mean you should go ahead and put down that lie on the resume?

For the sake of argument, let’s say that your potential employer finds out that the resume you have submitted has a misrepresentation of your employment history. Does that lied employment history trump the years of hard work you’ve done for your previous employers? I’d say no.

Don’t take the risk of jeopardizing your chances of getting the job. Even if it’s a smart lie on the resume, it can come back to haunt you. Even after you’ve been hired, lying on the resume is grounds for immediate termination – even decades later.

If you’ve lied on the resume, FIX IT. Instead of having to worry about getting caught in a web of lies, proactively address the lie and do not scramble after that point forward.

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