Is Your Resume Factual?

I was just reading an article about a man from Texas who lied about having military experience and was able to join an Army reserve unit as a noncommissioned officer. Of course Jesse Johnston III is not the first person to lie about his background, education or experience but how scary is it that he was able to basically infiltrate this Army reserve unit? Now closer to home, do you remember the scandal at West Virginia University when Heather Bresch (Governor Joe Manchin’s daughter) was granted a master’s degree when she had not actually earned it? When she was found out, the fallout from this supposed “mistake” was very costly. What about you? Have you taken creative liberties on your resume?

Some of the more common liberties on resumes include:

• Overstated titles
• Inaccurate dates on your work experience
• Showing degrees when they have not been earned
• Exaggerated salaries
• Puffed up accomplishments or total lies regarding responsibilities or roles
• Taking credit for someone else’s accomplishments

According to Ann Everhart of ResumeDoctor.com; “Education is the most common area of the resume where we usually see misleading information.” Some people think that they can get away with purchasing a fake degree and no one will ever know. Take the case of Heather Bresch and remember the consequences of that one!

So how is your resume? Is it factual? If a human resources department contacted the college where you claimed to have received that degree, what will they find? If they called a former employer and asked about you, would the dates on your resume correspond to the dates the employer had? What about your skill set? Would you be able to test on all of the skills you claim to have? Could you talk about the positions you held without looking at your resume?

If you are not able to answer yes to these questions, you better take a good hard look at your resume and start making it right! You may not be caught right away but sooner or later it will catch up you. So, unless your goal is to be front page news facing criminal charges, I suggest that honesty is still the best policy!