10 most outrageous lies on resumes

Only 8% of employees admit to stretching the truth on their resumes, but 49% of hiring managers say they’ve caught job applicants lying on their resumes, says a CareerBuilder.com survey.

The most common lies included:

• Embellished responsibilities – 38%
• Skill set -18%
• Dates of employment -12%
• Academic degree -105
• Companies worked for – 7%
• Job title 15%

But some folks make incredible claims: Here are some of the most outrageous:

1. Claimed to be a member of the Kennedy family
2. Invented a school that did not exist
3. Submitted a resume with someone else's photo inserted into the document
4. Claimed to be a member of Mensa
5. Claimed to have worked for the hiring manager before, but never had
6. Claimed to be the CEO of a company when the candidate was an hourly employee
7. Listed military experience dating back to before he was born
8. Included samples of work, which the interviewer actually did
9. Claimed to be Hispanic when he was 100 percent Caucasian
10. Claimed to have been a professional baseball player

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Comments

[SPT Slayer]

SPT...commonly known as Sales Prevention Team member.

SPT's are among us all.
SPT's are swift of foot and blend in well with un-canny camouflaging capabilities.Unfortatnely, SPT's are often promoted to positions of authority and can be found speaking with co-workers, clients and at times other members of management. Similar to a parasite they feed on company profits, employee morale and client retention while remaining un-detected. Ultimately the SPT moves on to another host leaving the current host damaged beyond repair. In some cases the host dies.

They seem to possess a world-class ability to F**K anything up. Most often they can be "Smoked-Out" by investigating repeat errors, poor quality control reports and negative customer survey response. Beware... for they are difficult to catch. They hide and pass blame well and most often know when your hot on their trail. They are never found at the table of responsibility and never in recorded history has one presented itself to medical staff or management for evaluation. SPT research has NOT determined any physical characteristics however, many believe them to have missing teeth, unruly dirty hair and many times carry an unpleasant odor, English speaking is an option...but not always.

Once detected, Your best weapon is accountability and termination. Interestingly, the SPT is known to monitor the treatment of other SPT members. There are documented cases of SPT members defecting to other teams. Upon investigation, these members chose their actions shortly after the termination of the fellow SPT member.

They are often referred to as one or more of the following secret names:
• Square pegs in round holes
• 20 watts
• Dopes

SPT Awareness Foundation

[CM]

#4 is Claimed to be a member of Mensa. As a member of Mensa since I was 16, I have my affiliation listed on my resume...so this is considered an outrageous claim???

[Smarty]

You know...as smart as MENSA people think they are you'd think they'd have a better website than they do.

As I filter through resume's I think I'd pass on anyone that puts group membership as a work qualification above their work history, education or experience. Group membership shouldn't be considered as qualification criteria; that's how the "Good Ole Boy" network runs their show!

[EL]

College degree is the most common lie I run into. Some applicants never completed the 4 year degree, although may have attended the university for a few years. Or they embellish the degree toward an MBA and only have a BA.

[Jane]

In today's job market, isn't it more important what a person can bring to the table and his/her ability to quantify the results of the work they have done? I have found that although having a Master's Degree has opened some doors, it really doesn't have much impact when it comes to proving if I could do the job required. In a paperless society, it is more important than ever to look your best on the net or in someone's database. Lying should never be the way to do that. I think that savvy people bypass the net altogether and get to decision-makers if they really want to get noticed.