Falsify your resume & jeopardize your job prospects

Everyone seeks to show his or her talents and interests to prospective employers. When you are trying hard to get a job, the temptations are always great to inflate your resume.

Can you afford to falsify your resume? If you do so, the most horrible thing that can happen is that you, unexpectedly though, is that you get the job that you are seeking. But subsequently, you will always be tense and constantly praying that no one gets to know about the fabrications that you indulged in.

It is therefore, essential that you do not misrepresent information in your resume. Most organisations carry out background checks and if any discrepancies are discovered, you will be dealt with unceremoniously. In the light of the foregoing, it is important that you should pay particular attention to the following aspects while drafting your resume:

·       Qualifications & experience: Do not inflate your qualifications or experience because subsequently your competency or incompetency will stand out. If they are not in line with what you have claimed, being shown the door will be reality. For example, if you have undergone a certificate or diploma course, do not project it as a degree. Likewise, if you have not completed a course, do not assert that you have.

·       Appointments & responsibilities: Falsification of designations held by you while working with past employers is a serious matter. Do not claim to have held appointments or discharged responsibilities that you actually did not. To illustrate the point if you have been an executive, do not aver that you were a manager.

·       Remuneration: Do not inflate your salary figures for the simple reason that the same can be made out from your age, qualifications, experience and the companies that you mention to have served with.

·       Gaps: Do not avoid mentioning jobs that you undertook for short durations. If you hide information pertaining to jobs that you had for short durations, discrepancies will crop up in the form of gaps which will stand out and you will find it difficult to explain.

            The question therefore, is how can you succeed in getting a job that you have applied for without falsification of any type in your resume? Here is how you can do so:

·       Be open & honest:  You need to be candid about the skills you have and the experience you possess. It is likely that your expertise is much sought after and you are fairly well qualified for a post that you are applying for. Under such circumstances, if at all there are any hitches, you will be able to overcome them, provided you are frank and straightforward and have no reservations in stating the truth. 

·       Improve your qualifications: Rather than misrepresenting facts about your qualifications, that is, trying to inflate them, it is recommended that you actually acquire them. Today, there are many institutions that enroll working people for degrees and diplomas. You can also consider subscribing to a distant-mode programme or even a recognized program online. It is essential that you strive to improve yourself, because if you do not, you are bound to get into a retrograde mode.

·       Utilise your contact base:  Every applicant may not be fully qualified for a job. There will be some deficiencies of qualifications, experience or expertise. You can surely rise above them by swaying somebody who is well-connected or has an important role to play in the decision-making loop to recommend you. In the entire job-hunting process, references and endorsements matter a lot. Your chances of success in getting a coveted job are more if you spend time in building a solid contact base and convincing others that you will come up to the expectations of the concerned employer.

·       Publicise your expertise on internet: You may have some shortfalls vis-à-vis qualitative requirements for a job. You can prevail over them to a large extent by publicizing your skills on the internet and various social media sites. You should author a blog and maintain association with people who matter. If people in large numbers acknowledge your skills, you will not feel any requirement to falsify your resume. Remember that if you are able to create a convergence and exhibit know-how, the flow of jobs will be towards you. 

A resume should give an account of your commitment, passions and resourcefulness - all of which are key attributes employers look for in job candidates. Prevarication and misrepresentation of any type will get exposed some day or the other. So why take recourse to this?