While doing a presentation on resume writing I got a question that really shocked me: “can I lie on my resume?”
Even when I strongly advised against ever lying on a resume and explained that companies have the ability to find out information today like never before through the Internet, students still approached me and asked specific questions, like: “I’m applying for a job at a hotel abroad. Can I say I worked in a hotel here where I did not really work because the job description says I need to have experience in a 5-star hotel?”
I want to be perfectly clear – this is NEVER okay. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER.
It is one thing to use language to make your job duties sound more exciting; it is quite another to flat out lie. You will be found out. Even if you somehow do manage to lie and get a job, I am 100% sure it will come back to haunt you later in that job or in your career. It’s not worth it.
If you find you’re lacking in experience in an area in which you want to work, you should identify volunteer opportunities or associations that you can join to gain knowledge and/or experience. You can put those on your resume. But please, don’t ever put false information on your resume.
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