Resume Padding, Clinton-Style
David Knowles
Contributor
Posted:
03/25/08
From CBS News:
Okay. Lots of people do it, right? Shooting for that big job, you take a few liberties in describing your job history. With a few keyboard strokes you go from "gas station attendant" to "internal combustion engine fuel specialist." An after school job behind the counter at Dairy Queen morphs into "dietary consultant." A mundane, ceremonial trip to Tusla, Bosnia--with the aid of creative visualization--is recast as proof of pressure under fire. Songs and photo ops are replaced with sniper fire and hit-the-deck urgency.
Experts on resume padding are largely in agreement:
Messy, indeed.
Okay. Lots of people do it, right? Shooting for that big job, you take a few liberties in describing your job history. With a few keyboard strokes you go from "gas station attendant" to "internal combustion engine fuel specialist." An after school job behind the counter at Dairy Queen morphs into "dietary consultant." A mundane, ceremonial trip to Tusla, Bosnia--with the aid of creative visualization--is recast as proof of pressure under fire. Songs and photo ops are replaced with sniper fire and hit-the-deck urgency.
Experts on resume padding are largely in agreement:
It seems like a good idea, harmless in fact. Your friends assure you that everybody does it and that employers rarely check resume facts. Going on blind faith and convinced the truth hasn't been helpful so far, you seriously consider fabricating information on your resume. You adapt the school of thought that a little white lie never hurt anyone and lying on a resume is just that, a little white lie.
Cheating on a resume can be tempting, especially when one has been searching for a job for months or even years. However, we all know that fibbing is never a good idea, and the likelihood that you'll be caught is extremely high. Even if your "creativity" slips through the cracks, karma has a way of catching up with you. So either way, lying gets messy.
Messy, indeed.