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Whether it be a big lie or a little lie, dishonesty can cause issues especially if it’s on your resume. Even the smallest of fibs—like fudging your dates of employment—can have serious professional and personal consequences.
A CV or Resume documents have immense significance in the context of job hunting. Therefore, a Resume lie can leave a person unemployed and disrupt their career.
Today's job market for accountants is competitive. Those who need work undoubtedly know how difficult it can be to compete for the top jobs. This competitive environment has led some unscrupulous job seekers to embellish or exaggerate their experience to improve their chances of obtaining jobs.
During document verification or background checks, most employers can identify lies with their knowledge and experience, consequently, a resume lie can incur a huge penalty. Metaphorically, it’s like digging your own grave and dousing your hopes of a good job.
What Constitutes Lying on Your Resume?
Lying on your resume comes in three forms: lies of commission, lies of omission, and embellishment.
Many job seekers out there are wondering if they should stretch the truth on their resumes.
What is written down on your resume can make a big difference. And when you’re desperate for a job, that’s a big consideration.
Crafting a stellar resume is essential to securing coveted positions in today’s competitive job market. However, in the pursuit of presenting oneself as the perfect candidate, many individuals are tempted to fabricate information on their resumes. While this may seem necessary to stand out, the consequences of a Resume Lie can be dire and far-reaching.
Most importantly, a Resume Lie does nothing positive or beneficial. It hinders one’s chances of moving further with the interview selection process and if detected later on, it can even get you expelled from your job.
Among the most common Resume lies are:
The Negative Impacts of Lying on Your Resume
Looking at the worst-case scenarios – lying on your CV can destroy your chances of getting the job at both the initial application and interview stages as well as block any further applications to that company. If you do manage to make it past that stage, you may damage your reputation within the workplace if you are caught out later on. Below are some more reasons as to why lying on your CV is a really bad idea and can have irreparable consequences:
1) Background Checks are Now Very Easy to do
The internet has made it much easier for companies to conduct background checks on potential employees. Nowadays, employers use search engines, social media, and LinkedIn profiles to cross-check CVs. Moreover, they even contact references and use sources like job portals to learn more. If the company is impressed by the look of your CV, they may conduct a background check and find out if it is truthful or not. Naturally, if they find out that you have lied, they will not be hiring you.
2) Impaired Interview Performance and Impressions
Certainly, your Interview performance may speak louder than the words on your Resume. The interview is a crucial part of the hiring process and companies use this as a chance to assess the applicant’s personality and how well they would gel with the other employees in the company. Many of the questions that come up in interviews aim to verify the information on the CV and to further understand it. If you can’t expand on what you wrote on your CV or your answers fail to sync up, it will be game over at the interview stage for your application. So, any attempt at doctoring your skills, experience, or knowledge ruins it sooner or later.
3) Guilt Consciousness and Risks of Getting Fired
Stating that you have a certain set of skills or capabilities on your CV when you actually do not can be found out very easily. Accordingly, you might find yourself out of your depth, and because you claim to know something you actually don’t, asking for help will be tricky and give the game away.
A Resume Lie is a ground for termination at any time whether in the near future or years later. In no matter of time, you may find that a small resume lie can lead to more lies.
Nowadays, many offices operate with Anti-Corruption Cells for hiring and attrition of employees. Therefore, working with the ruse of a Resume lie can be detrimental and damaging to your career.
So, as an employee, you mustn’t deviate or get tempted to lie on your Resume.
Meanwhile, if you got fired, it may require you to explain the reason before continuing with another company. On the other hand, when you are terminated, your close associates and loyalists also stoop down. Later, your circle of references diminishes and you’ll have to lament at your loss. In these cases also, instead of deleting that work history, include it to prevent a resume gap.
Apart from these consequences, the one thing that you may need to bother is your guilt consciousness. That is to say, we are all answerable to ourselves and our inner consciousness. At the end of the day, when you reflect inward, you won’t be pleased to get reduced to a sorry figure.
4) Your Reputation may be Ruined in the Professional Sphere
A Resume Lie will damage your credibility and image within the industry as HR professionals and Recruiters have connections in the corporate world. People talk. If you are found to have lied on your CV, your reputation will be damaged in the workplace and maybe even in the whole industry. Other companies may hear about the incident and will be less inclined to hire you if you apply for a job with them later on.
There is a thin line between presenting your CV in a way that would appeal to certain jobs and just plain lying. The fact of the matter is that an outright lie or lying by omission are both untruths that can be swiftly found out and lead to serious career damage.
5) Lost Opportunities and Hopes for Reconsideration – Blacklisting
If you’re proven guilty of lying, your application will be immediately discarded. Eventually, you may get banned or detained membership in job portals (if reported).
If you’re caught lying, you’ll also likely be blacklisted by the company, with little chance of getting another interview with them.
If you’ve gone through a recruitment company then when the recruiter gets feedback from the employer, they’ll probably want to terminate their relationship with you as they won’t want to put you forward for other jobs.
Your CV or Resume is the first point of contact between you and a company or employer. So, one Resume lie may completely revoke and break the faith and understanding formed.
To clarify the extent, exaggerations in your ‘Work Experience‘ can put your entire career under the radar. As a result, your contract should be based on foundations of mutual trust and credibility.
Therefore don’t rely on a Resume lie unless you want a stain in your professional life.
Is It Illegal to Lie on a Resume?
As resumes are not official, legal documents, it is not technically illegal to lie on a resume. However, this depends on the extent to which the lie is taken--for example, if an educational diploma, a passport, or other legal documents are falsified, this could result in prosecution for falsifying documents.
So what exactly makes a lie on a resume fraud? ‘A representation is false if – it is untrue or misleading, and the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading.’
When you lie about your employment history, you’re aiming to secure yourself a job and stop other candidates from getting that same job, which is illegal.
CV fraud is especially important when it comes to lying about qualifications that are essential to carry out the job, such as making up fake degrees and certifications- and is where the big fines and sentences tend to come in.
Conclusion
When it comes to your resume, the truth is always the safest bet.
So if you feel that your CV is not up to scratch, learn to be creative but stick to the truth. If you’re honest and you don’t get the job, you will always be able to reapply to the same company or position later on down the line when you’ve improved your skills or qualifications. Lie and you won’t get a second chance!
If you need any assistance in preparing your resume or you need more specific interview guidelines that best suit your personal requirements to have a breakthrough in the Canadian job market reach out to Gettrainedgethired.com to book a free 30-Minute career counseling meeting. At Gettrainedgethired.com we provide you with the necessary training to learn practical skills to become an accountant. Our training is based on practical real-life cases. After the training, we work on your resume and try to place you in accounting firms through our network. You will also get access to like-minded individuals who are looking for jobs through our WhatsApp group. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Or call us at 647-275-7150.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this page is intended to provide general information. The information does not consider your situation and is not intended to be used without consultation from professionals. Salman Rundhawa and Gettrainedgethired.com will not be held liable for any problems that arise from the usage of the information provided on this page.
