Top Ten List of Resume Falsifications

Most applicants falsify the same sections of their resumes and applications. If you know what to focus on, you may be able to spot the red herring. The following common resume falsifications are in order from the most common to the least.

Dates of Employment
No one wants to admit they were unemployed, much less that they were employed
for a substantial period of time. Often, applicants will elongate their employment at
several jobs to cover these gaps.

Job Title
This is the quickest way to update your insufficient qualifications to fit the position.
Applicants often upgrade their positions to the one above their own. If you wonder
why, ask yourself: how much pay difference is there between a manager and a V.P.?

Degrees Earned
In this case, the lie is often close to the truth. The applicant may have completed
(or nearly completed) the necessary credit hours but failed to finish the requirements to graduate. Occasionally applicants will upgrade their education in the same way that others upgrade their positions—they’ll say they earned a Master’s when they received a Bachelor’s or a Ph.D. when they have a Master’s.

Educational Background
In occupations where the prestige of your university can give you an edge, applicants will often say they attended their first-choice institution, e.g. Harvard, when in reality they attended the community college near their home.

Past Employers
In much the same way that applicants will upgrade their schools, they will also
upgrade their past employers. Another approach that is increasingly appealing in a
global marketplace is to say that they worked for a company that doesn’t exist or is
no longer in business.

Compensation
The most difficult question an applicant will have to answer is: How much are
you worth? Of course, it’s never phrased that way, but that’s the meat of the
compensation issue. If they say their last employer paid them $60,000, it’s much
easier for them to ask for $65,000

Reason for Leaving
If an applicant was fired, that’s a fact he or she wants to hide. During the
application process, they may cite a mass layoff as the reason for leaving rather
than an individual layoff caused by poor performance review.

Past Accomplishments
In this case, applicants may say they single-handedly managed a $1 million
account when they were part of a team or they managed a team of 50 when, in
reality, it was a team of five. Applicants want you to believe that they can
handle the responsibility you’re giving them; even of they don’t really have the
experience you require.

Skills
This refers to hard skills, such as programming languages, foreign languages or
accreditations. For example, an artist who is looking for a career change may say
they know all the designer packages necessary for a graphic designer position
when they have only seen the programs or played with them once or twice. On
the other hand, they may have the knowledge to do the job but lack the
documentation to prove it.

Past Supervisor
Applicants will falsify the name and position of their past employer for many
reasons. Some applicants also give the name of a friend or co-worker and prep
them for your call. Either way, this is a sign that they probably don’t want you to
contact their actual boss.

Information courtesy of CNN Money.