Employers Beware! 1 in 3 Americans Admit They Lied on Their Resumes
Thursday, September 23, 2021

recent ResumeBuilder survey found that 32% of Americans admit to lying on their resume.  In the current highly active labor market, with 65% of employees searching for a new job according to the PwC US Pulse Survey, employers should carefully review incoming resumes.

Interestingly, the ResumeBuilder survey found: 1) resume lies are most frequent among higher earners and 2) the most common lies surround years of experience and education.  Other key survey findings include:

  • 80% of workers who lied were hired by the employer to which they lied, but almost half had the job offer rescinded after the new employer caught the lie

  • Lying on resumes is most prevalent in the technology and finance sectors

  • Men lie on resumes twice as often as women

  • The most common reason for lying on resumes was to improve chances of getting hired (72%); lacking the necessary qualifications for the job (44%); and covering up parting on bad terms from a previous employer (41%).

Employers should review their hiring practices to ensure they are vetting resumes – whether through checking references, utilizing appropriate skills tests, behavioral or probing interview questions to expose resume dishonesty, formal background checks, internet and social media searches, and/or internal or external verification services.

 

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