As the old adage goes – the truth will set you free, and (more importantly) lies will catch up with you. Which is why appearing to tell lies on your CV is probably not the best of ideas – something Tory leadership hopeful Andrea Leadsom has just found out.
Leadsom was accused of overstating her experience by a former colleague who claims that she managed neither people nor funds, despite the impression given by an old job title (“senior investment officer and head of corporate governance”).
In response, Guardian writers shared their CV white-lies, and addressed the question of whether it’s ever a good idea to tell porky-pies on your resume. It prompted an interesting debate in the comments. Here are some of the best bits from our readers.
If you can talk about a topic at length – put it on your CV
My experience as an au pair? Looking after my little sister
I worked as an au pair at 17 with even less experience than the writer! I also used the "I look after my little sister" (who was 13). I am now a pro at nappy changing but did wonder a lot at the time what I signed up for! I sort of wish I could go back and do it again because I would be so much better at it now. But I don't think anyone who hires a 17 year old to look after there children is looking much at CVs.
Zut alors! Don’t lie about your language skills
Take heed. In my early 20s I added as a last liner that I could speak fluent French, worried about my lack of language credentials.
Of course one of the interviewers happened to be from Laval in Quebec, how could I have not foreseen that... I tried to play it down by saying 'fluent' was added by accident - futile of course because my interview hot seat was already rotating under its inexorable spin toward the 'leave and never return' exit.
Never lie. State fact to the point of ambiguity if you must, but never, ever lie.
Fate can sometimes transpire against you
The chances of being caught out will always exist, however unlikely it may seem. When I ran a co-op actors' agency, an applicant sent in a CV stating that she had worked on a certain TV series as a named character. Not only had I worked on every episiode of the same series without seeing her (it turned out she had been an extra in a short location shot), but I had also read the classic novel on which it was based so knew that neither the novel nor the screenplay had a character of that name. Not a very intelligent lie and one that cost her dear in reputation.
One could argue that she was unlucky, but it placed every other item on her CV in doubt and we only called her in for interview to point this out to her.
Being vague is a good away to get around qualification gaps
A friend of mine, rather than either lie outright, or actually put that he'd got poor A-level grades and then failed his degree, simply re-arranged the layout of his CV so that under 'Education' he put the name of his school, the from and to dates he attended and the number of GCSEs and A-levels he achieved there, then the name of his Uni, the from and to dates and the degree subject he'd studied while there. He didn't put any actual grades or qualifications, and was never asked about it. Admittedly the entry level jobs he went for initially didn't require a degree, however he's worked his way up through a few companies since then where everyone around him at his level had degrees and presumed he did too, but he could hinestly say he's never actually lied and told anyone he'd got one, and it doesn't say on his CV that he does, just that he studied the subject for 3 years.
Poetic license is a two way street
A resume is a marketing document, not a legal document. Are most companies claims on their marketing material 100% accurate. Will they tell you about all the crap aspects of the job, their bullying managers or their toxic culture. I think not. Poetic license is a 2 way street.
Charm the interviewer and Bob’s yer uncle, you’re in
I've met people who have absolutely no qualms about lying on CVs. And they get away with it. They breeze in, talk rubbish with a straight face, charm the interviewer and Bob's yer uncle, they're in.
People who fear lying because how do they know where and when that lie will be called, simply do not have the casual confidence of the charmers who can walk into a job and frequently the truthful people don't get the job.
Isn't that what life is like through and through? The people who least deserve success get it and those who slog hard... well they end up slogging hard.
Below the line counts as being a political commentator, right?
On my CV I've spent several years as an unpaid political commentator at the Guardian newspaper. No one has to know it's BTL, do they?
Share your stories below the line in the comments.
As long as you can talk about a topic at length and in detail then put it on your CV. Especially if you have been having no luck. A mate of mine droned on about swimming with sharks all the fu**ing time that I decided to get something back. I put it on my CV and my next prospective boss quizzed me about it. I reeled off in detail my false experiences stolen from my mate and got the job. It turns out that he liked the idea of shark swimming and I could yap on about it with the second-hand experiences that has been forcefully downloaded into my nogin.