subject: How To Recover From A Fib On Your Resume [print this page] It is estimated that up to 20% of all jobseekers lie to some extent on their resume. Honestly, it is somewhat surprising that the number isn't higher considering the extremely tough job market, and the fact that your resume is your only foot in the door in many cases. It is your primary means of communication in order to convince the employer to even invite you to interview for the position, so it's not surprising that some people resort to embellishing the facts.
If you told a few fibs to get your current job, you have options. You can confess, which likely result in you losing your job, or you can work your tail off to make things right, by making those lies become truths.
While confessing may help your conscience, it is likely that your conscience will find itself unemployed, as telling the truth could end your career. Your reputation will be harmed, (though not as badly as if you get caught in your lie by your boss. If you confess, you are giving your company reason to fire you, and will cost them a lot of money, and also cause the company as well as yourself embarrassment.
Another option is trying to make that lie become truth. One of the most popular resume lies is lying about the level of education you have received. If that is where you found yourself embellishing the truth, you can fix it by going back to school to get the degree you claimed. Putting in the hard work will not only clear your conscience, but it will also help advance your career.
It's much more difficult to fix your embellishments if you lied about your work experience, because you can't hop in a time machine and go back and get the experience you have claimed to have. What you can do instead is to be a stellar employee, and not give your boss a reason to investigate your past any further. Additionally, go to your resume right now and delete those embellishments. You may have lucked out this time, but it is not worth losing your credibility to embellish your resume in the future.
There are multiple victims when you lie on your resume. Not only are you harming the employer through your false advertising, but you are also shortchanging the people who will be working with you because their new coworker (you) may not truly have all the skills needed to be a weight-bearing member of the team. The final person who is a victim in this lie is you. You are living in a lie of your own creation which will cause added stress and fear of being caught and terminated, which can affect your health, happiness, and your work productivity.
In conclusion, if you have fibbed on your resume, fix the lies that you can by making them become truth. For the lies that you can't fix this time around, make sure that you are an outstanding employee who gives their boss no reason to investigate your resume claims. And above all else, remove those lies from your resume immediately. One of the most important rungs on the ladder to success is honesty.
