Little white lies may seem harmless, but your workplace is likely full of them. It’s more than Pinnochio could ever dream of! A recent OfficeTeam survey has found that resume fabrication is becoming more rampant than ever before. A recent survey revealed that a shocking 46% of workers reported knowing someone who deliberately provided false information on their resume, an increase of 25 points since 2011.
Nearly half of all senior managers have come to distrust the information presented on candidacy resumes, and almost forty percent even went as far as taking applicants out of consideration for a role after catching them in an untruth.
Survey results show that lying is most frequent on resumes in regards to job experience (76%), followed by job duties (55%), education background (33%), and employment dates(26%).
An impressive majority of male employees (51%) know someone who has lied on their resume – a number that is significantly higher than the proportion for female workers (39%). Even more noteworthy, the highest percentage amongst all age groups belongs to 18-34-year-olds at 55%, indicating that this demographic likely encounters deceiving resumes far more often.
“It may be tempting to stretch the truth on a resume to stand out, but even small misrepresentations can remove an applicant from consideration for a position,” said Brandi Britton, a district president for OfficeTeam. “To verify the information and avoid costly hiring mistakes, employers should conduct thorough interviews, reference checks, and skills testing with the help of a staffing firm.”
The most direct lesson to take away here is the importance of honesty but also emphasizes that your resume should not have qualities that could make employers suspicious.
When searching for the perfect potential employee, OfficeTeam highlights five tell-tale signs that could indicate a lie on their resume – and provides helpful hints to verify the accuracy of information.
1. The descriptions of skills are often unclear. Utilizing phrases such as “familiar with” or “involved in,” which are quite vague, could indicate that the candidate is trying to conceal their lack of direct experience.
2. There are questionable or missing dates. Having variable timespans between roles or merely listing your past positions by year without specifying the months can be seen as warning signs.
3. Your body language during the interview gives off negative signals. To ensure that you are conveying sincerity, be sure to exude strong body language. Avoiding eye contact or displaying constant restlessness may indicate untruthfulness.
4. The accounts provided by various references are inconsistent. Ensure that each of your references is accurate for the best results.
5. Online information doesn’t match. Navigating the internet can be a confusing endeavor, but strive to ensure that everything adds up in the end.
More than 1000 U.S. workers and 300 senior managers from 20 or more employee companies were surveyed to bring you even greater insights on the matter – check out this infographic for more information!
