How To Remove The "White Lies" In Your Resume Before They Are
Spot!
Let's just face it: the job market can be a very tough place to
compete in. In order to survive in today's job market, people
often resort to artificially "inflating" their resumes with
little "white lies". Chances are, you're also thinking of doing
the same.
Well, as tempting as it may be, you do NOT want to risk lying on
your resume.
Whether it's personal information, job experience, or schooling
- employers are finding new ways to sniff out liars and you
don't want to be one of them.
Job Experience - Clearly this is not the place to boast about
fake employment as you are going to list the businesses you
worked for which may be contacted for verification. As this is
the most likely area your interviewer will do a check on, avoid
misrepresenting yourself at all costs.
Education - Think that nobody will notice if you slip in an
education you don't really have? Perhaps you do have the skills,
but you can't afford to claim education you can't provide proof
of. There are new services that will allow employers to have
background checks - similar to criminal or credit checks - to
verify your claim.
Personal Information - While some information may not be easily
verified, information such as a criminal record, can be very
costly to you in the event it is checked out. You can never
guarantee that an employer won't be able to find the
information, even if your employer is hiring you for domestic
work and is not a business.
On the other hand, how can you create a resume that will
highlight your skills and abilities without needing to lie?
Below are some suggestions:
1. Give Proof Of Skills Gained. Your skills in the workforce can
be weighty indicators of your ability to work in a given job.
You may not know what an employer is looking for. With many jobs
that don't require a particular expertise, you many find that
they are looking for people who are able to learn on the job.
Proof that you have gained skills as a worker (or even a
volunteer if you're just starting out) can be very valuable.
2. Expand Your Descriptions. Do not say 'I worked in an office',
rather say 'I was responsible for answering the phones in a
professional manner and directing calls to the proper
departments. In a busy work environment I was able to multi-task
by providing supportive administrative assistance to the head
receptionist including maintaining a filing system, processing
inter office memos, delivering documents in a timely manner,
directing clients to their meeting appointments and providing
relief reception. I was quickly able to learn the filing and
switchboard systems as well as create good working relationships
with fellow staff.'
If you need help you can find software programs which will give
you suggestions on wording depending on the position you are
describing or you can hire someone who writes resumes to help
you.
By avoiding putting "white lies" in your resume and ethically
elaborating on your key strengths, you can have confidence that
you will get (and keep) your dream job.