* Latest research indicates that nearly one out of two resumes misrepresent the job seeker's employment history or education
Would it surprise you to know that many of the resumes that come across your desk may contain falsified information? Two recent reports show that many applicants are adapting revisionist history.
Jude M. Werra and Associates’ semi-annual Executive Liars Index hit 11.61% for the second half of 2005, up slightly from the first half of that year. This index is the calculation of the percentage of executives who whose degrees were not earned, or who otherwise changed the facts about their majors, or their dates of graduation on their resumes. “This continues to puzzle potential employers because these facts are so easily checked,” according to Werra.
ResumeDoctor.com found even more disturbing results. The resume-writing service recently studied more than 1,000 resumes to confirm the accuracy of dates of employment, job titles and education. The review found that 43% had one or more significant inaccuracies, and 13% contained at least two. We’re not talking typos here, but misstatements or exaggerations intended to boost the candidate’s appeal. The most common infraction was that the job title was not accurate, followed by incorrect details about education and finally employment dates.
“Odds are that nearly one out of two resumes misrepresent the job seeker’s employment history or education,” says Brad Fredericks, co-founder of ResumeDoctor.com. In IT, he says, many people mislead others regarding whether or not they obtained a particular certification. Compounding the problem, technical applicants load their resumes with acronyms and protocols rather than providing any specific information about how they’re qualified.
“I think this latest research is going to be a wake-up call to employers about the need to spend a few extra minutes researching and confirming a job applicant’s background before extending an offer,” Fredericks says. If you have five resumes to choose from and you learn that someone wasn’t truthful about their credentials, that person is going to be eliminated from the running.
