View Full Version : Lying on your CV
Peik Looi
10-09-2006, 05:20 PM
Lying on your CV by Quantnet's MVP Dominic
http://www.wilmott.com/blogs/dcfc/index.cfm/2006/10/9/Lying-on-your-CV
An article on the BBC today, reminded me of one of the occasional pains of being a pimp. Lying on CVs http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5414938.stm
A friend of mine was a director of a firm that did background checking, and even though she was honest enough to admit they didn’t dig that hard, there were still many people caught. We’ve come across a couple of people who went beyond “exaggeration” to a point where we could not put them forward for any job. These days it’s easy to check up academic records, as well when & where you worked. It’s common, though dangerous to lie about your pay, since these days there are enough tax records for that to end badly. Certainly there is a degree of exaggeration that is relatively hard to catch, but it can often do you more harm than good. If you set a high expectation, then you have a lot to live up to at interview, and if you get the job, you may well find yourself well out of your depth. It’s tough enough doing a job well, let alone where your boss thinks you’ve more depth than you have. And yes, before you ask, we do occasionally see people who clearly aren’t telling the truth, and it’s more sad than anything.
alain
10-09-2006, 05:28 PM
It is not difficult to find a lier from his/her resume. My advice is not to lie in the resume, but if you do, be ready to back it up.
This is very important issue. I understand why people lie a little just to get themselves an interview. It's quite common. In fact, i have heard from many people that they put skills on their resume just to match a job qualification requirements and then go buy a book to scram before interview.
Easy things to spot if someone lies on their resume: GPA, former employers, salary, job functions,etc. All it took is a call or some electronic records.
It's very tempting to put skills on your resume that you barely read about, tried once, etc...So I guess it's better safe than sorry. I'm sure when you go to interview, they will drill every little details on your resume. If you put some skills on your resume and can't show basic knowledge of it, oh well...
RussianMike
10-09-2006, 06:31 PM
In Fooled By Randomness there is a story about people putting the ability to play chess on their resume, and then having to play someone during an interview. So the idea is not to do these things at all. Dont lie about anything, ever. Unless we're talking about not hurting someone's feelings lying is not a good idea. Which reminds me, I need to delete chess from my resume :) I do play but I am definitely worse than average for now.
woody
10-09-2006, 06:45 PM
We once didn't hire someone who seemed like a great fit. He wrote that he graduated with honors but put a GPA that didn't qualify him! :wall
Peik Looi
10-09-2006, 06:50 PM
Is this person an international? Assessment in UK or Asia is quite different from the US. We don't go by GPA, so if you do a direct conversion, there is disparity.
woody
10-09-2006, 07:34 PM
Is this person an international? Assessment in UK or Asia is quite different from the US. We don't go by GPA, so if you do a direct conversion, there is disparity.
Nope. American from NYU.
Yan He
10-09-2006, 07:40 PM
Leo's company just fired an IT guy, saying that he lied on his previous salary. So, I would agree with Mike, be honest on your cv.
He wrote that he graduated with honors but put a GPA that didn't qualify him! :wall
Good catch. Unless it's noted on your official transcript, don't freely add Honors, top 5%, sigma cum laude,magna cum laude, cum laude,etc... to your resume. Distinctions may even differ from school to school and country to country. When unsure, don't put it on resume.
So make sure to look at the resume again, make changes and send it to Prof. Stefanica again if needed. :D
Just to play the safe card, I won't put on my resume any skill that I can't talk about or demonstrate expertly. We can always mention at the interview about something not on the resume. Getting asked about some skill on the resume and not able to answer is a BAD, BAD thing.
nelisar
10-09-2006, 08:58 PM
Yes, I totally agree...BE HONEST. As the saying goes, "Honesty is the best policy". Some people live by the motto "Fake it until you make it". :smt018 I just think that is wrong and very misleading. I remembered during my job hunt season, people would advise me to fake it until you make it. But, I personally did not feel like doing that...it is either I know how to do a particular task or I don't. Either you like what I have to offer or you do not...it is that simple. And secondly, Nelisa's "little" secret...I CAN'T lie at all. You will know it in an instant....so my policy is "Relax....and just be you!" :smt020
DominiConnor
10-10-2006, 02:53 PM
We did have one candidate who came *that* close to getting put forward with a good recommendation.
But, something about his last job but one, seemed just a little too good, and implied that he'd taken a stop down for his current one.
That happens, but is worth investigating.
Made a couple of calls, and it turned out that he'd basically "upgraded" an internship to a whole job.
What's sad is that we didn't really care about the other job, and in my opinion he could have doen the one we were filling.
Peik Looi
10-10-2006, 04:22 PM
Do you tell them why they were not given the job? Question is, what happens after they were found out? Blacklisted? Left on the 5 foot way none the wiser?
DominiConnor
10-10-2006, 05:49 PM
Good question...
RussianMike
10-10-2006, 09:18 PM
Personally, I think there is a level of trust that gets lost so I do not think one would want to work with that person. The candidate moves on, however, there is one caveat. The industry is not that large so you may get blacklisted though without anyone actually putting you on any kind of list.
This guy raised it to an art form:
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=8562
Definitely worth finding the resume online, and the video that goes with it.
This guy raised it to an art form:
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=8562
Definitely worth finding the resume online, and the video that goes with it.
How did he get into Yale?
He now has his own wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksey_Vayner
His video resume on Youtube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCBwa-uzU5U
And it's getting worse. Now his story is featured on Sat NYTimes' Business section http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/business/21bank.htm
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