You Must Tell The Truth

But you are not a witness at a trial.

One of my recent clients was a techie who wanted advice on improving their resume. Upon reviewing it, I noted it was well written, with some excellent bullets. I determined quickly that most of the text could be used in the updated version. The formatting needed a lot of improvement; so, I focused on that first.

After we improved the formatting, I returned to the text and bullets. Again, I saw it was very well written; in fact, seemed too good for this person (Remember – I knew their background and work history). So, I asked, did you obtain help writing your previous drafts and this version. They answered, “Yes. I used ChatGPT.”

Nothing wrong with that. (Really!) I told them how they did an excellent job with the prompting, as the language was concise and focused; not too wordy as is often the case with AI-assisted resumes.

I then read one of the nice accomplishment bullets and said (more than asked), “Wow. That is a great bullet; and you did all that.”

And then client laughed and said, “No. Not really.”

STOP THE PRESSES!

Shocked, I took a couple of deep breathes and said, “You can’t do that. You must tell the truth on your resume. They can ask you about anything you include on your resume. If they catch you in a lie. You will be eliminated from hiring consideration immediately.”

And yet, according to surveys, roughly half of job applicants lie on their resumes.

Lying on a resume can lead to severe consequences, including job loss, damage to reputation, and potentially legal issues. Employers increasingly use background checks and reference checks to verify information, and any discrepancies can lead to immediate disqualification or termination. Lying on your resume can also damage your professional reputation and make it harder to find future employment

In short, lying on a resume is a red line.  Don’t do that!

Well, what about exaggerating or not telling the whole truth; for example, omitting something?

Believe it or not, a little exaggeration is not a problem, and you are not a witness at a trial. You don’t take an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on you resume.

Let’s say your boss didn’t like you and made sure you were let go during a mass layoff.

When asked why you left your last job, you can truthfully answer that you were let go as part of a mass layoff.

You don’t have to say the part about him not liking you.

You told the truth; just not the whole truth.

But you gotta tell the truth!

I gave the client some homework: Delete from the resume everything that is not true. And next session, we shall work on the text.