Lie On Your Resume And Risk Your Future

When you lie on your resume, cover letter, job application, or at an interview - there's a high probability you'll get caught. That's why honesty is the best policy.

Why it's important to always tell the truth

Lying on your resume these days can be a deal killer. When jobs became tight after 9/11, thousands of job hunters, including candidates for CEO positions, were caught lying on a resume and being untruthful during interviews. Bottom line: don't lie on your resume

This is why employers have been very careful about who they hire. While prospective employers will not always monitor the facts on your resume, they often perform, or hire outside organizations to perform employment background checks.

When prospective employers call places where you worked to ask for information about you, most companies will cooperate by giving your dates of employment and salary range. You can lose your job by exaggerating salary. That's what happened to a friend of one of my career-counseling clients in New York.

My client set up an interview with his boss for his friend and former colleague who had been out of work for well over a year. The friend, who lied on his application, was hired for an administrative position. After a month on the new job, he was called into the boss's office and fired.

The now ex-employee had exaggerated his previous salary by four thousand dollars. The policy of the bank that hired him was to provide a salary that commensurate to the one he previously earned. The moral of this story is to always tell the truth to prospective employers.

Sure, it's okay to make yourself look better than you actually are. But to exaggerate or to lie about titles, salaries, or achievements is big no no. You can get caught and not hired. Or get caught and fired like the person we've just discussed.

Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright Miguel De Cervantes made the point almost 400 years ago when he wrote --

"Honesty is the best policy"

Cervantes' complete quote is, "I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy."

When it comes to your career management, you jeopardize your future when you lie about your past.

Randy Place, a career management consultant in private practice, and Internet host of Your Career Service - http//http://www.yourcareerservice.com Daily posts feature job-finding tips and career management advice. Topics include job interview tips, networking strategies, dealing with job loss, resume writing and personalized cover letters, getting ahead at work, how to handle standard interview questions and much more.