Have you ever lied on a resume?

knowledge

knowledge

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Stories are appreciated. I was thinking about doing it for an entry-level position (so one where you don't really need experience) :/. I've been to too many job fairs only to do well on the interview and have them tell me they wish that I had experience.

I really don't want to do it, but after a couple of months of trying...it seems like the only way to get my foot in the door:(
 
If you do, make sure you give phone number of friends when they check your contacts.
 
I tend to exaggerate what I have done in jobs. For example, I worked on a project where all I really did was CAD drafting but on my resume I said that I designed a building electrical distribution. Resume's are just for getting that interview and then you gotta kick *** and communicate and sell yourself well.
 
knowledge said:
Stories are appreciated. I was thinking about doing it for an entry-level position (so one where you don't really need experience) :/. I've been to too many job fairs only to do well on the interview and have them tell me they wish that I had experience.

I really don't want to do it, but after a couple of months of trying...it seems like the only way to get my foot in the door
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As long as you can back it up if they call you on it all good. So many people working here are no where near qualified... prolly fail an IQ test if they take one.
 
I'm more and more convinced that the best way to get your foot in the door is to know someone.

In teaching, you don't get hired without knowing someone.
 
very very very tricky.
careful.

if i hired you under the notion you knew how to do something that you said you had experience doing.......and you didnt.
id fire your *** on the spot.

if you are going to lie, do it very very very well.
have references and make sure you actually can do what ever you lie about.

i still dont think its a good idea.

if someone says "you dont have experience" then you need to change their mind.
to lie about your experience is not the solution to this problem.
turn the neg into a positive. you gota sell yourself.
 
paulf2k said:
I tend to exaggerate what I have done in jobs. For example, I worked on a project where all I really did was CAD drafting but on my resume I said that I designed a building electrical distribution. Resume's are just for getting that interview and then you gotta kick *** and communicate and sell yourself well.
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What he said

Nothing wrong with a little exaggeration, it definitely helps your resume stand out more. But I wouldn't go making up positions that I never did. That's an easy way to get caught with your foot in your mouth.
 
Everybody does it. During one interview I was doing I noticed the candidate had on his resume that he was fluent in French, both verbal and written. So naturally I said speaking French is an asset for this position............to which he responded, well I can't really speak French anymore. needless to say we didn't hire him
 
LOL now that's just dumb...at the very least, I would've said "voulez vous coucher avec moi?"
VanillaGorilla said:
Everybody does it. During one interview I was doing I noticed the candidate had on his resume that he was fluent in French, both verbal and written. So naturally I said speaking French is an asset for this position............to which he responded, well I can't really speak French anymore. needless to say we didn't hire him
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When I interview someone I ask particular questions about anything I'm interested in so even if someone lied about something I would know. If I didn't ask about it then it wasn't important in the first place and lying about it gave them no advantage.

However it is easy to exaggerate 'soft' skills. In a technical field though I would avoid seeming competent in something you aren't.
 
Nope, never and never will. Can't do it. I know so many that have and have gotten away with it.
 
Knowledge ---- All you can hope for when handing out a resume is an interview.

If your resume gets you an interview then it did it's job and no need to lie!!! If you got the interview and came up short its likely some other issue that is holding you back from nailing it and not the "we wish you had more experience"....

To me, if an interviewer comes out with that lame excuse, I would be annoyed because I would be wondering if that jerkoff even read my resume carefully? If he/she did, he should know how much experience I have.. Sometimes, employers/recruitment agents are really terrible at picking out people to interview and Ive been in a few situations where I was just in an interview and knew right away that it wasn't going to work or was a bad fit.

Ive been on the other side (interviewing candidates) before and spotting lies was always very easy and immediately discredits the applicant. So, I'd keep it honest and eventually you will find a good fit.
 
CrazyKell said:
I'm more and more convinced that the best way to get your foot in the door is to know someone.

In teaching, you don't get hired without knowing someone.
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+1 they hired for permanent positions people who the team lead knew/was friends with rather than others who do the job currently. It's a sick world we live in.
 
knowledge said:
Stories are appreciated. I was thinking about doing it for an entry-level position (so one where you don't really need experience) :/. I've been to too many job fairs only to do well on the interview and have them tell me they wish that I had experience.

I really don't want to do it, but after a couple of months of trying...it seems like the only way to get my foot in the door:(
Click to expand...

Once I said I was Jesus. I just wanted to see if they would do a reference check. ;-)
 
LiNK666 said:
+1 they hired for permanent positions people who the team lead knew/was friends with rather than others who do the job currently. It's a sick world we live in.
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I'm finding this to be more and more true the longer I'm working.
 
what did you major in?

ive never gotten anything useful out of job fairs...
 
I never have and would never be comfortable doing so. When I was searching for better jobs last year I had a 'professional' resume person interview me and create a new resume. Nothing on the resume was an outright lie, but I felt uncomfortable with how much he elaborated on what I told him. Being a supervisor during a company buy-out all of a sudden turned into me being a crucial player in integrating company policies, etc.

Although the resume technically was the one I used to get my current (much better) job, I feel it was my interview, and not my resume, that nailed it. Now for internal job postings I'll only use my old self-made resume that I feel I can more comfortably explain and justify. And it's worked - 3 months with my new employer and I've already nailed a better job internally.

It's hard when you're young and starting out. What type of jobs are you looking for?
 
TomC said:
what did you major in?

ive never gotten anything useful out of job fairs...
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That depends how you look at it. When I was unemployed a couple of years ago, a friend and I went to a big job fair at RIM park. We quickly learned we wouldn't be getting a job that day, but I'm still using the pens, highlighters, coozies, notepads, mousepads, hats, bags, etc. that we scored at the job fair!

At least we got a laugh out of it.
 
anth1414 said:
very very very tricky.
careful.

if i hired you under the notion you knew how to do something that you said you had experience doing.......and you didnt.
id fire your *** on the spot.

if you are going to lie, do it very very very well.
have references and make sure you actually can do what ever you lie about.

i still dont think its a good idea.

if someone says "you dont have experience" then you need to change their mind.
to lie about your experience is not the solution to this problem.
turn the neg into a positive. you gota sell yourself.
Click to expand...

I agree. If they want to drag it up years later they can use it against you as just cause.

If you are qualified for the position you are applying for and not getting results you have to find out why. As said, sell yourself.

Your family and friends aren't going to be much help if your problem is a personal projection as they won't want to offend you by telling you you look sloppy, have body odour, poor posture whatever etc. The interviewer won't either.

You may need a detached Q & A person for role playing. You can also practice lying or exagerating to see if you can bail yourself out of the situation without looking like a fool.

Try twisting words. You aren't inexperienced, you have fresh ideas. etc.
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