Before he was famous, Leonardo da Vinci in 1482, at the age of 30, wrote out a letter listing his capabilities and sent it off to the Duke of Milan in hopes of getting a job. He is credited with submitting the first resume.
In a recent Harris Poll on resumes conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder, 2,188 HR pros and hiring managers were asked to cite common exaggerations (i.e. lies) on resumes. Unlike da Vinci’s letter, most resumes today are reported to contain exaggerations or be flat out wrong. Here are the common resume falsehoods and percentages reported:
• Skills — 57%
• Responsibilities — 55%
• Employment dates — 42%
• Job titles — 34%
• Academic degrees — 33%
• Past companies worked for — 26%
• Accomplishments and awards — 18%
When conducting interviews and reference checks, hiring managers must be sure to validate resume facts. They should challenge candidates on the resume’s veracity and have little tolerance for inaccuracies or embellishments.
Empowered hiring managers dig deeply into a candidate’s resume and make more successful hires.