If you are prepared to lie or embellish experiences on your resume, be prepared to get caught. Competition for jobs is becoming fiercer and executive recruiters and many employers realize they have more options to choose from. Most executive search firms won't risk their reputation presenting fraudulent resume embellishing candidates. For them placing a successful candidate is also a means of securing new business in the future. Professionals never forget key alliances made throughout their careers. Namely persons or organizations responsible for alerting them of better career opportunities and of course those who perhaps through no fault of their own, have taken them away. Therefore, it is becoming more and more common for recruiters and their client companies and many other employers, to do extensive background checks on your resume prior to an offer of employment. Sometimes these verifications can commence immediately after you apply. (with your authorization) 

There are many surprisingly obvious tip-offs the well trained recruiter seeks to spot untruths on resumes that unfortunately all won't be shared here, however recruiters and hiring managers stated the most common misleading information being put on resumes are:

• Inflated titles
• Inaccurate dates to cover up job hopping or gaps of employment, applicant list calendar years instead of months and years
• 1/2 finished degrees, inflated education or "purchased" degrees that do not mean anything. Advanced degrees never earned 
• Inflated salaries
• Inflated accomplishments, embellished accountabilities 
• Out and out lies in regards to specific roles, duties and responsibilities. Supervisory skills and number of persons supervised
• Unlisted terminations
• Citizenship 

 "Education and pervious compensation are the most common areas of the resume where we usually see misleading or false information."

It may be tempting to add an extra job responsibility or the amount of experience you have had in a particular area to grab your reader's attention. However, now you are faced with adequately discussing responsibilities that you never really had. If you do end up getting the job, now you are stuck with more lying, not only to the hiring manager, but also to your coworkers, clients, customers or even fans. You would have to show up to work everyday knowing that you lied to get there and wondering when you might get caught. If you do get caught, the result is typically getting fired right on the spot. Now, you have a real reason to lie when you have to look for another job. Also you can face litigation because an application for employment is deemed a legal document and falsification has penalties. Most employers may not sue, feeling that the loss of the position, salary, perks and reputation is penalty enough.   

Connecticut recruiter, Roger Sarkins shared this story, "One bonehead forgot we had worked together a few years earlier (I still had his old resume) sent me a new resume where every title was upgraded. His former Employers apparently promoted him because he was doing such a great job at his current Employer."

BEWARE: Background checks might continue for years after you were hired. When organizations are purchased and new ownership is faced with duplications of positions, a quick way to easily get rid of some of the fat is to have all acquired company employees fill out a new application. If the new doesn't match the old on or contains untruths. You're Gone! Recently, there have been a number of high profile cases where the individual was working and was caught with lying on their resume years later. Former Notre Dame football coach George O'Leary was forced to resign his $1.2M salary in 2001 when it came to light that he grossly overstated his past accomplishments. Hundreds of other lesser known individuals are terminated every day for these or similar offenses. Even if in the short term you fool your employer, the truth will always haunt you and one day without notice your boss can suddenly end your status as an employee. No matter how stellar your performance has been. It's not worth it. Integrity and reputations are hard to regain after these negatives scar your professional record. 

Even if you initially convince your employer you are more experienced than you really are, you will be expected to demonstrate the necessary skills when you need to. So before you lie on your resume, think twice and know the potential consequences; not only financially but it could also prove to be a huge source of embarrassment. Executive recruiters certainly will never work with you again and employers essentially will bar you from their ranks forever. 

Always compose resumes and applications carefully and truthfully. Interview without embellishing or inventing professional experiences. In the long run it will serve you better. With today's powerful technology it may not even serve you in the short run. Lying is no substitute for experience, education nor accomplishments. Today a background check can parallel the same technology utilized in instant credit checks at the furniture store. Retailers won't let you walk out with a new living room set if your credit is poor. Recruiters & Employers now won't let you in the door when discrepancies are found.

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