Dishonesty During the Job Search - Part 1

This is Part 1 of a two-part post, where we discuss some of the ways people lie and misrepresent themselves while looking for work.  

The continuing Hilaria-Baldwin-pretending-to-be-Spanish scandal, which is both entertaining and disturbing, got me thinking about dishonesty in the job search.

Presenting yourself as something you’re not, or as having knowledge and skills you don't actually have, in order to find employment, make money, and/or promote yourself, can be very tempting. This is especially true if you are job hunting now, with hiring down and competition up for many types of work, due to the pandemic.

While it may be tempting, and many people do lie during the job search, it is also extremely risky and not recommended. It is very easy get caught, very likely that you will get caught, and the repercussions can be serious.

Examples

Dishonesty during the job search can take many forms, and can include lies of commission (stating something that is not true) or omission (leaving out pertinent information, in order to deceive):

• Claiming to have skills and/or experience and/or knowledge you don’t have, or leading others to believe you have certain skills/experience/knowledge
• Exaggerating your proficiency in a skill
• Giving yourself a fictional title
• Claiming that you had duties or achievements in a certain job that you didn’t have, or taking sole credit for team accomplishments
• Having someone else write your resume, cover letter, letter of interest, or other application document for you, or fill out an application for you
• Copying and pasting parts (or all) of your resume or cover letter
• Claiming to have a degree or certification you don’t have, or claiming to have finished work towards a degree or certification that you did not finish
• Altering the dates of employment to eliminate or shorten a gap between jobs
• Creating a fake job completely out of thin air: title, location, dates of employment, duties, etc., and this includes presenting something you did that wasn’t an actual job (with pay and a supervisor and accountability, etc.) as if it was a real job with all of those things (2nd question at link) (See also: Can I put running my household on my resume?) 
• Presenting volunteering as if it was a paid position (you can include volunteer experience on your resume but you must make it clear that you were a volunteer)
• Claiming that you were laid off or left a job voluntarily, when you were fired
• Providing fake references, including having friends/family pose as references to vouch for you

Some job seekers don’t even think of some of these things, like changing the dates of employment or listing a degree they didn’t finish as if they actually have it, as dishonest! They certainly are lies, and those two happen to be among the easiest to discover as untrue. Employers will definitely regard them as deceptive and unethical. 

The lies may be written and submitted electronically in a resume or cover letter or online application, may be handwritten (with your signature required) on forms prior to an interview or hire, or may be verbal during an interview. Sometimes pre-hire paperwork will state explicitly that lying on the resume or other document is a fireable offense.

In Part 2 we’ll examine the consequences of lying during a job search.

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In addition to the many resources and services for job seekers provided by BPL's Business & Career Center, the Library's Adult Learning programs provide opportunities to increase basic skills in reading, writing, and math, prepare for the HSE/GED test or enroll in NEDP, learn English, and more!