Didnt graduate from Yale or Harvard? No problem: just fake it on your resume or thats what some people think. According to InfoLink, 14% of job applicants lied on resumes about their education last year. David Edmondson, C.E.O. of RadioShack resigned after he was caught lying about college degrees. Maybe it didnt pay off for Edmondson, but James Frey might say, despite the national embarrassment and Oprahs anger, it has paid off to lie and fabricate. His book, A Million Little Pieces has been number two on the New York Times best seller list for over half a year. It can get confusing. Pays to be dishonest one place, but not in another. When it comes to your resume, dont lie! Resume honesty comes in two ways: 1) Dont make up what you dont have. 2) Tell the whole story of what you do have. We want to be socially accepted. We can go too far to get it. Psychometrics, those tests we take to see who we are, find our traits and strengths, have built-in measures to detect if the test taker is answering honestly about themselves or answering in what they think are socially acceptable ways. If the social acceptability score is too high, the test is nullified. And for good reason. The test taker, knowingly or otherwise, has misrepresented who they are. Fabrication doesnt pay, but hiding aspects of who you are doesnt pay either. Your work history is what usually shows up on your resume. There is an equal need for your resume to show case those hidden attributes about yourself which go beyond common benchmark skills, such as how well you team up with co-workers Your hidden resume is a record of how motivated you are. It speaks to how you maintain a high performance level at work. Your future employer may not care as much if you graduated from Harvard as whether you volunteer for projects at work. Do you have political savvy? Can you maneuver your way through an organization, dealing effectively with the various levels of management? Your hidden skills need to be highlighted on your resume as much as where you did graduate work or who you worked for when. If you are patient, focus on service and results, are able to work well wherever youre placed in the organization and align with customer needs, bring these hidden talents to the attention of a current or future employer. This will increase the significance of discussions about your career future As a career coach I encourage people to be honest. Getting the job you want is only half the story. Keeping it is the rest of the story. Youre fine and wonderful the way you are. No need to make things up. Let the world know fully and honestly who you are and what you can bring to that job or promotion you want and deserve to keep. |
