Survey Finds More People Lying On Job Applications, Resumes
More people than ever are lying on resumes to get a job. According to a CareerBuilder survey, 85 percent of employers caught applicants fibbing on their resumes or application, up from just 66 percent five years ago. UNO business professor Mark Rosa blames a competitive job market.
“There’s more generation on the current generation to find work and to find meaningful work than there’s ever been,” Rosa said, “There’s more people in school, more people with credentials, more people with experience.”
Rosa says some applicants may only embellish a little bit, like adding a few years to their experience, while others go as far as to make diplomas from fake universities. But he says employers are getting better at catching them, because most things on a resume are verifiable.
“You can call the registrar at the university with respect to college credentials. You can call previous employers with respect to their work history,” Rosa said.
Rosa says the internet is also helping employers weed out untruthful applicants, which increases the risk of getting caught. He says if someone is caught lying on a resume, the consequences could be disastrous for the person telling white lies.
“Their career is completely finishes. They’re usually a young person. It’s a mess. They’re never to be seen again,” Rosa said.