RESUME LIES

During the past few years, the United States has seen a myriad of high-profile individuals, working professionals, as well as the most entry level individuals committing what should be considered a crime – Resume Fraud!

Technically it is not a crime to lie on a resume. However, most hiring professionals believe it should be. Countless hours are wasted on job seekers who misrepresent themselves on their resumes. In almost every case, where lies have been found on their resumes, those individuals don’t fare well in the working world. If a job seeker is willing to lie on their resume, it is easy to question whether or not they are honest in other aspects of their life. It becomes viewed as a character flaw. When someone’s character is questioned, it is difficult to repair any negative thoughts associated with that person.

Even though resume lies are considered extremely unprofessional, they somehow are still making their way onto resumes and into hiring authorities’ hands. These are seemingly harmless untruths to candidates, yet are highly looked down upon by future employers.

When surveyed, only 5 % of workers admitted to lying on their resume.
However, 57% of hiring authorities reported that they have caught at least 1 lie on a candidate’s application or resume, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.com.
The most important statistic is that 93% of those who spotted a lie DID NOT hire the applicant because of the lie!

The top 9 most common lies found on resumes, according to Forbes.com:
1. Lying about a degree
2. Exaggerating numbers
3. Increasing previous salary
4. Playing with dates
5. Inflating titles
6. Lying about technical abilities
7. Claiming language fluency
8. Providing a fake address
9. Padding grade point averages

My advice to job seekers is to simply be honest!
My advice to hiring authorities is to be aware of dishonesty!

In either case – HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY!

Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
V.P. of Sales & Marketing
Sales Consultant

In every corporation there are many different types of employees. There are the employees that stand out from the rest due to superior performance, loyalty, responsibility and a consistent positive attitude! Next there are the employees that don’t exceed expectations but they meet them. Often they are responsible, loyal and get their work accomplished on a timely basis. The last category is defined by the employees who are noticeable for their inadequacies. These individuals are known for all of the wrong reasons. Often they have poor attendance, problems with tardiness, and inner-office problems with co-workers or superiors. Their attitudes also follow suit and are usually negative and condescending. The first of these three categories are the employees that are valued most by corporations! These employees can be referred to as high-value employees.
High-valued employees share common characteristics. When determining your employees, you should look at the following:
Provide leadership – formal or informal
Contribute practical and new ideas
Create excellent and consistent results
Require little supervision
Facilitate the work of others
Have unique skills and knowledge
Without this employee, the company would suffer
If this employee left for a top competitor, the company could lose valuable information
Dependable and reliable – attendance is excellent

These are just a few examples of what to look at when evaluating your employees. Your highly-valued employees are the ones who set the pace, they keep attitudes positive and often bring the best ideas to your company. Be aware of which individuals fall into this category and let them know that they are valued!

Nancy J. Phillips, CPC