Move over, Pinocchio. A recent study suggests that more than 30 percent of job applicants lie or exaggerate the truth on their resumes. And some experts claim that this number might be as high as 50 percent.
Recruiters are adamant that lying never pays and that most liars will eventually get caught. "The reason employers get so upset about a candidate lying isn't about the lie itself," says Elizabeth Lions, a former recruiter and the author of "Recession Proof Yourself." "It points to a much deeper issue--a character flaw. It's an integrity issue."
For more on the consequences of lying on your resume or a job application, and for tips on making the truth work better, check out "The Truth About Resume Lies."
Some lies are bigger than others--here are six real-life whoppers. (None of the candidates got the jobs.)
The lying "nun"
When Renata Rafferty decided to verify the former employment of a new employee who was acting odd, she made some discoveries. The new hire was not, in fact, a former nun or a former IT executive for IBM in China, as she had claimed to be.
When Rafferty confronted her, the woman said she was in a federal witness-protection program. The truth? "She was a very well-educated nut job," says Rafferty.
A matter of degrees
A lot of job seekers lie about degrees. Revi Goldwasser, founder of Wall Street Personnel, had one candidate who took it even further. Goldwasser asked for verification of her college degree. "She sent me a copy of her picture on graduation day--which was really her high school graduation, not college--and her diploma and transcripts. They were fake."
Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery
Angela Sinickas interviewed a woman for a communications consultant position. During the interview, the candidate showed her a handbook she claimed to have written and designed. "It was an absolute, complete rip-off of an award winning handbook I had done. When I quietly pulled out a copy of my original handbook, she turned pale and said, 'I guess I don't get the job.'"
Lying through the air
Jake Robertson, of Primerica Financial Services, met with a job seeker to discuss working together. "He showed up in an airline pilot's uniform and placed his flight cap prominently on the table." Impressive? At first. But it turns out he was kicked out of the airline business 15 years earlier." And this was just the beginning of a long series of lies and odd behavior. "Last time I heard from him, he was in prison," says Robertson.
It's a living
A candidate once told Lauren Moreau, of Treeline, Inc., that her W2 amount for the previous year was $400,000. After running a W2 check, it turned out she had earned only $80,000. When confronted, "she claimed the other $320K was made under the table."
A very secret service
Public-relations guru Richard Laermer fielded a candidate who claimed to have worked for the secret service. Further checking revealed this to be a lie. "He said, 'Well it was like the secret service.' We later found out that every job on his resume was a lie."
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