In the old days, you often heard people suggesting that one way to get ahead involved ‘selling yourself’ aggressively, which could mean embellishing facts on a resume. There was the idea that people who wrote the ‘winningest’ resumes with the most impressive content often got jobs. With that in mind, because competition is so important in the job search world, many people started to internalize this idea, and really play up the positives on their resumes to a large extent.
Today’s expert guidance for job seekers is a bit more measured. Essentially, professionals are saying that because HR departments saw so much spin and in some cases flat-out fraud, they’re now a lot more choosy about making sure that candidates claims are factually accurate.
The Problem with Resume Fraud
Why is it a problem to exaggerate a little bit on the resume?
In a basic sense, you could say it goes back to the same problem that often happens with collective social processes — a few bad apples ruin it for everyone else. Because companies have had trouble with people marketing themselves inaccurately, they’re now very cautious about moving ahead with hiring until they figure out whether resume claims are true. There’s a burden on the applicant to “show and tell” more, because without some context, the companies feel that an individual job seeker can just come in and make things up.
How to Back Up Your Resume
How do you deal with today’s business environment, one where distrust is often an issue?
You can’t just ask people to trust you — but there are some simple guidelines for making sure your resume stand the best chance in a world where it’s important to verify claims.
One of the first steps is to comb through your job history and education history for any unwitting errors. You want to make sure that dates and places and other facts match up. Stick to basic and professional descriptions of what you did on the job, rather than trying to wow the crowds with superfluous adjectives like ‘fantastic’, ‘amazing’ and ‘magnificent.’
Another big step is to provide factual evidence for big claims. You may be an expert in some piece of software or business process, but instead of just saying so, give concrete examples that employers can research. Give them the names of people they can call to confirm what you’ve given in the resume. This also goes along with the idea that job seekers should smooth over any old issues with old supervisors and managers to make sure that they have as big of a cheering section as possible.
About Full Steam Staffing
Full Steam Staffing is a full-service employment agency in New Bedford, MA focused on providing clerical and light industrial staffing solutions to manufacturers, distribution centers and other organizations that need qualified, reliable workers. If you are looking for a new job in New Bedford, MA, browse our available opportunities or contact our team today!