Lying on your CV

The CV that you submit to an employer/recruitment company is the first impression that they get of you as a candidate, making it important that you present your skills and experience effectively. For some candidates there may be the temptation to lie – whether it be the dates that you were in the job, why you left the job or what your job role was. Unfortunately, as tempting as this may be lies like this very often come out during the recruitment process whether it be at screening stage, interview or when you are in the job itself.

While it can seem like a small move to change a few dates and extend your previous jobs dates, it is much better to be honest. If you had time out to travel or start a family, try to think about the transferable skills that can be applied to your application. Be sure to list any courses or education that you undertook while off work, this is much more impressive than lying which is essentially fraud.

Equally it can be really tempting to over-egg your experience, for example saying that you have team management experience when the only person you managed was yourself. But this has no benefit, being truthful is much more impressive than telling lies. Lying on your CV has the potential to see you being put in to a position where you are out of your depth and as a result this has no benefit to either yourself or your new employer.

Invest time and go through your CV, make sure that you give examples of your duties in your role and don’t undersell yourself in the roles that you have been in. Be confident in your ability and give specific examples where you can – don’t sell yourself short from duties that you have completed. Be honest and write positively about yourself using the true facts. It probably sounds more impressive than you realise!