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Lying On Your Resume
 

inews's picture
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 12:30pm
lie on resume.jpg

As we all know, this is VERY bad to do. But most people over-exaggerate the truth, I know many people give practiced and often over-padded competency examples during interviews to impress, and many do still lie about their credentials (and go on to secure jobs, without HR checking). The article below shows how someone in a senior level position was removed from the position for lying about their credentials.

On Friday, the hedge fund (Third Point), which is the middle of a contentious proxy battle with Yahoo, called for the dismissal of the technology company’s chief executive, Scott Thompson, after revealing that he had inaccurately stated his credentials.

Students/job seekers: Have you lied and/or padded your resume?

Employers: Does you company have a no-tolerance policy on lying (ie someone is immediately dismissed no matter what)? or is it subjective/depend on the situation?

Here's the full article: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/hedge-fund-...

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ChrisHansen's picture

I also have a question about

(Gorilla, 534
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 12:02pm

I also have a question about this, I understand HR can check your grades, but what about extracurriculars? What if you embellish that (say you were in this position when you werent). How do they check that?

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world, and when I die I want to come back as me."
-Mark Cuban

BulgeBracket's picture

Some banks hire people to

IB
(Baboon, 108
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 12:09pm

Some banks hire people to check up on you.
Weeks into a BO gig, they were still picking details on my resume, the seem to outsource it to the most annoying people. If had lied, they would have found it pretty quickly.

Ske7ch's picture

That''s why Yahoo! is Yahoo!.

O
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 12:32pm

That''s why Yahoo! is Yahoo!.

- Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered.
- The harder you work, the luckier you become.
- I believe in the "Golden Rule": the man with the gold rules.

Bob123321's picture

Correct me if I'm wrong but

(Chimp, 15
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 12:54pm

Correct me if I'm wrong but under FERPA Higher education is not allowed to disclose personal information of students . So HR has no legal way of checking it .

drexelalum11's picture

inews: As we all know, this

O
(Neanderthal, 3,635
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 1:05pm
inews:

As we all know, this is VERY bad to do. But most people over-exaggerate the truth, I know many people give practiced and often over-padded competency examples during interviews to impress, and many do still lie about their credentials (and go on to secure jobs, without HR checking). The article below shows how someone in a senior level position was removed from the position for lying about their credentials.

On Friday, the hedge fund (Third Point), which is the middle of a contentious proxy battle with Yahoo, called for the dismissal of the technology company’s chief executive, Scott Thompson, after revealing that he had inaccurately stated his credentials.

Thomson hasn't been fired.

Bob123321:

Correct me if I'm wrong but under FERPA Higher education is not allowed to disclose personal information of students . So HR has no legal way of checking it .

You'll have to sign a waiver / request a copy of your transcript be forwarded.

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SECfinance's picture

Bob123321: Correct me if I'm

IB
(King Kong, 1,421
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 1:16pm
Bob123321:

Correct me if I'm wrong but under FERPA Higher education is not allowed to disclose personal information of students . So HR has no legal way of checking it .

Yeah... Most places will require you to submit a transcript or waive your FERPA rights at least when you get hired. Most BBs wanted an Unofficial Transcript when I submitted on OCR.

DrPeterVenkman's picture

Great post. I would never

O
(Gorilla, 707
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 1:56pm

Great post. I would never cheat on my resume because I would be way too paranoid that it would come back to haunt me.

See my WSO blog

anaxi's picture

In my opinion it is okay to

(Orangutan, 318
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 2:01pm

In my opinion it is okay to embellish in interviews when given behavioral questions (e.x. give me a time when you were a team player) especially when you haven't had real FT experience because they are looking more for your philosophy rather than your actual examples. I don't think it ok to say you founded an organization when you were just the secretary, but I think its ok to mention an example of teamwork that you have noticed.

I draw the line in the sand when it comes to lying about credentials and anything considered to be "official" record. You should never say you had an internship that you didn't or were in the honors college if you weren't. Those things are more binary in that you either are telling the truth or lying and its never good to strait up lie.

White lies can get you too. If you are at an interview and you namedrop someone that you don't really know too well and happen to be speaking to someone who does know that person, you are screwed.

WSO Writer | View my blog

Aldrich IV's picture

Well with the ridiculous cost

O
(Monkey, 36
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 2:03pm

Well with the ridiculous cost of College, and the competitive job market, its going to happen. But outright faking information has to garner some attention.

Its quite something to think about, you bust your ass off for 4 years, spend thousands. Or someone could counterfeit the near same exact thing for a couple grand in 1 week.

Reminded me of that Harvard fake Adam Wheeler.

Ryan M's picture

I interviewed a manager at

 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 2:20pm

I interviewed a manager at Sauders Graduate school (UBC) for a school project earlier in the year for my business ethics class and asked her how often she ran into this problem. Her response, they did a study and 80% of resumes are embellished in a fairly significant way. How to combat this? apparently they do more interviews that grill much harder to see if you actually know your shit and on the other end networking cant be copied and is invaluable when you eventually start applying.
resumes will be embellished, it is in the game now., however if you network hard enough you shouldn't even need a resume. I hear of many stories where due to networking they are getting offered jobs rather then even having to apply.

andyinsandiego's picture

inews: The article below

CF
(Orangutan, 333
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 2:28pm
inews:

The article below shows how someone in a senior level position was removed from the position for lying about their credentials.

Did you read the article?

State of Trance's picture

I also have a question about

PE
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 3:15pm

I also have a question about 2 unpaid internships I have had. How do the BBs view that ?

MrBroadway's picture

bump

IB
(Baboon, 160
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 4:10pm

bump

watersign's picture

If you're not cheating,

(Baboon, 131
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 5:15pm

If you're not cheating, you're not trying.

Anyone who isn't outright embellishing things these days is a fool IMO.

alpha currency trader wanna-be

BTbanker's picture

andyinsandiego: inews: The

IB
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 5:48pm
andyinsandiego:
inews:

The article below shows how someone in a senior level position was removed from the position for lying about their credentials.

Did you read the article?

I don't think anyone but you and I read the article.

"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan

SonnyZH's picture

Connor: andyinsandiego: i

HF
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 6:11pm

The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.

drexelalum11's picture

SonnyZH: Connor: andyinsa

O
(Neanderthal, 3,635
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 6:16pm

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State of Trance's picture

bump

PE
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 6:21pm
Michael Scarn's picture

I actually understand lying

(Orangutan, 251
 
Points)
 on 5/6/12 at 11:46pm
WallStreetOasis.com's picture

Michael Scarn: I actually

EN
(Human, 12,074
 
Points)
 on 5/7/12 at 12:13am

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WallStreetOasis.com's picture

here's some food for thought:

EN
(Human, 12,074
 
Points)
 on 5/7/12 at 12:16am

WSO Conference 2013

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Michael Scarn's picture

WallStreetOasis.com: Michae

(Orangutan, 251
 
Points)
 on 5/7/12 at 12:45am
Gate_Crasher's picture

Yeah, like I'm going to

IB
 
Points)
 on 5/7/12 at 1:55am
Bobby Digital's picture

Definitely shouldn't lie (eg

 
Points)
 on 5/7/12 at 9:55am
Anacott_CEO's picture

It's so tempting to add a few

CF
(King Kong, 1,259
 
Points)
 on 5/7/12 at 10:05am
SC911's picture

JUST DO LIIKE SCOTTT YOU

(Baboon, 118
 
Points)
 on 5/10/12 at 3:42pm
Dana89's picture

I heard of people tweaking

(Chimp, 7
 
Points)
 on 5/12/12 at 9:20am
trailmix8's picture

overembellishing is

AM
 
Points)
 on 5/12/12 at 9:47am

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