Why Exaggerating on Your Resume Doesn’t Pay Off

If you are going through a long period of unemployment, you might be tempted to stretch the truth on your resume. However, that would be a mistake, as the consequences for doing such a thing far outweigh any possible benefits.

If you embellish your resume and invited for an interview, it means you’ll have to guard what you say for fear of being found out as a fraud. Then the harder you try, the more it might look like you are overcompensating for something. If you stretch the truth and can make it through the interview, a hiring manager may check references and potentially discover the holes in your background – resulting in your being disqualified from the process.

Even if you get the job, you may be asked to deliver on skills and accomplishments you just don’t have. Furthermore, if a lie or exaggeration is found out later, you can be terminated, be hit with legal action, or even charged with a crime, depending on the job and circumstances.

Exaggerating isn’t necessary

Lately, hiring personnel are more open to individuals with soft skills over experience and expertise. This means having a lot of experience, or every skill listed in the job description, isn’t always needed to land the job.

If you don’t have the exact expertise a company wants, but still think you might be a solid fit, make the case to the potential employer and let them be the one to decide if you should be called in for an interview. Allow your qualifications to speak for themselves and make it clear you’re prepared to learn on the job.

Passion and desire to learn is a much better quality than being a phony. Too many candidates ruin their chances to trying to look more qualified than the next applicant.

You may not get what to want anyway

While small exaggerations may be harder to spot for hiring personnel, little white lies can get you a job that you’ll have a hard time advancing out of. In the end, painting yourself into a corner like that can seriously damage both your job satisfaction and long-term career prospects.

For instance, some job seekers list modest career goals on their resume for fear that seeming too ambitious might be a red flag. However, telling that little exaggeration could hamper your chances of getting the job you really want. Or it might be seen as a lack of ambition or even laziness. This situation could also result in the employer not getting the most out of your skills by keeping you in a low position, so it isn’t great for them either.