Nearly Half of Employers Have Caught a Lie on a Resume, Survey Shows

Although only eight percent of workers admitted to stretching the truth on their resumes, nearly half (49 percent) of hiring managers report they caught a candidate lying on their resume. Of these employers, 57 percent said they automatically dismissed the applicant. This is according to CareerBuilder.com's latest survey of more than 3,100 hiring managers and over 8,700 workers nationwide conducted from May 22 to June 13, 2008.

Thirty-six percent of employers who received falsified applications said they still considered the candidate, but did not hire him/her. A small percentage (six percent) ended up hiring the applicant.

The most common lies discovered on a resume, according to the survey, include: Embellished responsibilities (38 percent); Skill set (18 percent); Dates of employment (12 percent); Academic degree (10 percent); Companies worked for (seven percent); and Job title (five percent).

Industries experiencing higher incidences of resume fabrications included Hospitality, Transportation/Utilities and Information Technology. Sixty percent of employers in Hospitality, 59 percent in Transportation/Utilities and 57 percent in IT reported they found lies on resumes. Government had the lowest incident at 45 percent.

CareerBuilder.com asked hiring managers to share the most memorable or outrageous lies they came across on resumes. Examples include: 1) Claimed to be a member of the Kennedy family 2) Invented a school that did not exist 3) Submitted a resume with someone else's photo inserted into the document 4) Claimed to be a member of Mensa 5) Claimed to have worked for the hiring manager before, but never had 6) Claimed to be the CEO of a company when the candidate was an hourly employee 7) Listed military experience dating back to before he was born 8) Included samples of work, which the interviewer actually did 9) Claimed to be Hispanic when he was 100 percent Caucasian 10) Claimed to have been a professional baseball player.

Reprinted with permission. © CCH

 Although only eight percent of workers admitted to stretching the truth on their resumes, nearly half (49 percent) of hiring managers report they caught a candidate lying on their resume.