Walk The Line?

This blog post saddens me to write. The story is simple enough. A top notch candidate, with all the right experience, in-depth industry knowledge, education, leadership abilities and people skills. The candidate aced the interview, sold the senior management on his abilities and was going to get the offer. He was thrilled, and he should have been – he did a great job and the employer was going to extend a strong offer.

A routine background check was conducted, and during that process it was discovered that the candidate did not have the degree he claimed on his resume. The same degree he listed, along with a graduation date, on several other employment and application forms.

When questioned, the candidate answered that he was just a few credits short from graduating, but thought he was close enough to the degree and had the applicable credits for the degree secured. We countered – it was falsifying his resume. The employer wouldn’t hire someone who had lied on his resume, or on any other their employment forms. How could they trust a senior manager within their organization who started off their relationship on a false premise?

The irony is that this is one of the rare clients that actually would have hired the candidate without the degree – his experience and talents were what they were seeking and the degree wasn’t a firm requirement in their organization. I am sure the candidate (and many readers) would counter that he would not have reached the interview stages without that line item listing his degree on his resume. Perhaps this is true, perhaps not.

What is certainly the case now is that the candidate is out of a job, and we cannot represent him anywhere else. If he had been truthful with us at the beginning of the interview process, we may still have been able to redeem the situation.

I’ve read articles and blogs that indicate a “little truth stretching” on your resume is okay. That you can and should tweak things to show you in a better light. I agree that you can, and should highlight your skills and experience to the best light possible, but all within the truth. Intentionally misrepresenting any information on your resume, cover or thank you letters and any applications, questionnaires, etc., is lying and will come around to bite you. If you get the job, sooner or later your new employer is bound to find out.

My opinion is to stay truthful in all that you do. Here are links to others opinions – on both sides of the fence. And, what is your opinion? I would welcome your comments on this post.

Six people who were caught lying on their resumes

Lying on Your Resume

Lying Up, Hiring Down

Most Common Resume Lies

The fine line between boasting on a resume and lying

High Profile Cases of People Caught Lying on Their Resumes