Becoming A Resume Lie Detector

Society of Human Resource Management studies show that 53% of job applicants lie on their resumes. Other research has placed the number at between 30% and 50%, with one 2011 study saying that 80% of resumes are – at a minimum – “misleading.”

Whatever the accurate statistic, it’s clear that resume fabrication – from inflated salaries to embellished job titles to trumped-up education claims – are rampant. And the liars have help: Several websites offer tips for “smart ways” to manipulate or outright fake resume details.

Common Sense And Substantiation

But hiring managers aren’t without their own “lie detectors.”  Common sense is the first line of defense in ferreting out resume deceit. If, for example, a resume asserts that the applicant earned a Harvard Ph.D. in 1995 but also says he or she worked for a Texas company from 1993 to 1996, common sense says that one of those statements may not be true.