Unemployment...to lie or not to lie...
You have found the perfect position, however are faced with one slight problem - you have been unemployed for the last 10 months and now want to hide this fact on your resume.
So what would you do? Believe it or not jobseekers each and every day have to make choices about whether or not to lie on their resumes with one of the most common lies being the fabrication of credentials and educational qualifications. Some other "lie tactics" include:
- enhancing position titles to a status that was not the level in which you were hired;
- fabricating accountabilities and accomplishments;
- making up employers or positions that never existed;
- exaggerating your abilities and claiming expertise in areas you either know nothing about or have very little experience in;
- stretching dates to cover-up periods of unemployment.
Unfortunately stretching of the truth and blatant lying seems to be an easy thing to do when developing a resume with many people believing that their untruths will never be discovered. I caution people considering the idea to incorporate similar falsifications in their resume to take into account the possible consequences that this may have.
While a resume is not a legal document, a job application is, which is often required to be completed at the time you attend an interview. To cover themselves legally, employers may insert a clause on the job application form stating that the information the candidate provides is both true and accurate. Armed with an untruthful resume, when questioned or challenged at an interview about the information, you will be forced to tell another lie, and then perhaps another, and another, until finally you have caused a snowball effect that is now completely out of your control.
If an employer discovers false claims during an interview or when performing the reference checks, more than likely you will not be hired. However, if discovered at a later stage after you were able to secure employment (based on the foundations of your lies), chances are you will be terminated. Not only could this mean job loss, embarrassment among your peers, and diminished credibility in your industry, but could also seriously jeopardize any chances of securing another position in the short-term, particularly if you will be targeting companies within the industry, as negative news travels fast.
Before you find yourself tangled in the web of your own deception there are some strategies you can follow that will ensure you can position yourself as a contender for a role, in particular if you are faced with the situation of employment gaps. Following these initiatives should assist you in transforming a potential employment gap into a learning experience, and provide you with marketable solutions for use in your resume without having to resort to fabricating information.
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