Posted

Everyone wants to give the best impression when job searching, especially on a resume. So what’s a little padding to get your foot in the door in a tough job market? A lot, and none of it good, according to employers. Even if you don’t fact-check your resume, prospective employers do, and resume fraud can get you in serious trouble, particularly if you want to find a job in the future.

Make the truth work for you

This can be both literal and figurative: You’ve worked hard and should show that clearly in a resume. Put your strongest skills at the top of your resume, and quantify your achievements with hard numbers whenever you can – just make sure they’re correct, of course, because employers will verify them. Even if your accomplishment happened behind your boss’s back, it’s still yours to claim, as long as it occurred within the proper confines of your employment; sometimes you have to take calculated risks to make something happen, and employers will value that.

Do NOT take foolish risks

When listing a job that you worked at five years ago, if you’re off by a month or two regarding the time of employment, most HR people aren’t going to fault you for that. If you state you worked there for four years instead of the three you actually did, that’s a problem. The same goes for trying to fake education credentials: Don’t ever claim a degree or GPA you haven’t truly earned – colleges have those records easily on hand. And even if you managed to “get away with it” to get hired, it may well come back to bite you later. Stories abound of veteran employees getting fired (or worse) for lies they told on resumes years before.

Don’t sell yourself short

If you want your resume to get past the initial review stages, you need to demonstrate what kind of value you would bring to the position and the office. In terms of fact-checking, make sure you put in all of those accomplishments and skills that would make you the best candidate for the position. Find a way to concisely and clearly list what you’ve done – this is the time to toot your own horn, not downplay. Go over your resume not only to check correct dates and statements, but also to ensure that you’ve painted the clearest and best picture of yourself.

Dismiss fact-checking at your own peril. Your resume needs to be accurate and truthful for your own and your future employer’s integrity to remain intact. For any kind of resume help, visit PrideStaff.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *