Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the perfect job applicant. All of us, at one time or another, has been late for work…has made a statement at work that we later regretted…or experienced conflict on the job with a colleague, supervisor, client, or customer. As a result, we may feel as if we need to conceal our shortcomings in order to secure our ideal job. Part of that concealment campaign may involve including inaccuracies, exaggerations, or outright lies on our resumes.

Lying Has Become All Too Common In fact, one employment agency estimates that nearly a third of all job applicants may include intentional distortions in the resumes they compose. If you have a great deal of integrity, this figure may seem to be quite appalling—especially if you’ve worked in positions where you have been entrusted with a great deal of responsibility.

Yet, interestingly enough, a number of employers are not all that surprised that there is lying going on in the job applicant pool. In fact, some employers have come to accept the idea that a certain percentage of job seekers will include falsehoods on their resumes. Still, the fact that employers recognize this phenomenon does not mean they accept it. An increasing number of managers have become quite skilled at detecting lies in resumes. Because their “truth detectors” are especially well developed, it’s likely that you will have difficulty obtaining your desired position if you don’t tell the truth in your resume.

Employers Know What to Look For Perhaps the most important reason that companies have become better able to uncover lies on resumes is the fact that managers are keenly aware of the lies most commonly told on resumes. For instance, a number of job applicants attempt to portray themselves as having achieved lofty positions in an attempt to cover up the fact that they never progressed beyond a certain level in their work. They lie about their job titles—giving themselves positions that never really existed. A quick reference check can often reveal this falsehood—to the embarrassment of the job applicant.

Prospective employees also may be embarrassed by the fact that, while they did attend college, they never actually earned a degree. As a result, in an attempt to make up for this shortcoming, they list a BA where none exists. A diligent employer can easily find out whether a candidate earned a degree at a particular educational institution; therefore, lying about one’s educational credentials can easily backfire.

Does Everyone Lie About Money? Fortunately, the vast majority of job applicants would never inflate their paycheck on their resumes—but some do, and employers know it. A prospective worker may believe that he or she is unlikely to command a desirable salary—unless his or her current salary is exaggerated. But the fact of the matter is that a potential employer can double-check your salary with your current employer—so there’s no benefit in lying about your earnings.

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