Pad Your Resume at Your Own Risk

I just read an interesting article, Résumé padding: inconsequential or inexcusable? by Emanuella Grinberg. The article opens with the high-profile case of Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson who was caught lying on his resume about the degrees he had attained.

The bottom line is that if you put it one your resume, expect it to be scrutinized. You must be able to honestly answer for everything you put on your resume. The big items, work history, criminal record, degrees, are all easily validated. From the article:

The 2010 survey found that 94% of respondents performed criminal checks, 70% performed identity and previous employment verification, and about half verified education and references.

In the technology world, truth-stretching and 'little lies' are commonplace. As the author points out, people will 'fudge' their accomplishments to make them grander than reality. They will take credit, or imply credit for something that was done by a team, or even by another person. They regularly inflate or fabricate numbers that show cost-savings, earnings, or the like. And it seems accepted that candidates will exaggerate the technologies they work with. Most resumes are stuffed with buzzwords - any technology the candidate heard of, read about, or attended a conference session about, finds itself listed in the Skills section of the resume.

Candidates seem to believe that the little lies aren't going to be detected. Often that's true, but often it is not. In my book, Agile Hiring, I write at some length about truth-stretching, lying, and how to detect it. It's extremely difficult to prove that a candidate is lying, but it's not so hard to cast doubt on claims. If a pattern of doubtful claims emerges (on the important things, mind you), then they don't get the job.

Doubt is the number one killer for candidates, and it occurs whenever a candidate cannot justify what she puts on her resume. Some common phrases that cast doubt after asking about an 'accomplishment' are, "Oh, that was the architect's decision," "That part was already implemented and I just used it," "Our lead engineer did that work," or "We didn't actually use it, I just read about it."

The savvy interviewer, when hearing these and other troubling answers, will do exactly what the candidate dreads, they will probe more deeply. You may think you can deflect an interviewer, and maybe you can, but the really good companies have quality interviewers who know how to get to the truth, and when they do, you're going to hate it. You know: that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach you get when you've really screwed up.

So tell no lies. Avoid exaggeration. Be prepared to honestly discuss everything you put on your resume. Review it, and if there's anything that makes you uncomfortable, if there's any time you think to yourself "They won't ask me about that," watch out! You are creating your own trap, a trap that could ruin your career. Just be honest.