More on Honesty

Posted by David B. Wright

February 12, 2008

53%.

That’s right, 53%.

Actually, more than 53%.

What am I talking about?

Is it the percentage of people who say the glass is half full vs. half empty? Nope.

Is this the amount your salary will definitely increase if you purchase my book and use all the information within it? Nope. (Well, maybe, but I can’t guarantee that.)

Is this how much my stock portfolio dropped after the dot-com bubble burst? Nope.

I’ll give you a hint: it’s got something to do with lies and honesty.

According to a recent study from the Society for Human Resource Management, more than 53% of all job applicants lie on their resumes, at least to some extent.

Fifty-Three Percent!!!

And my guess is that probably only includes those that got caught or told the truth about lying. Would you believe that a liar would always tell the truth about whether or not they lied? Nor would I.

It’s been said that for every lie you tell, you have to tell 20 more lies to cover up each lie. Then those 20 lies each need 20 more lies, and so on, and so on, and so on. Whew! I don’t know about you, but I’ve got better things to do with my time, and more that I want to accomplish, than vainly struggling to hold up a house of cards. Just think of all the effort it takes to keep covering up all the lies, and what you could truly accomplish if you re-directed that effort towards something more productive?

The point here is DON’T LIE, EVEN A LITTLE! You WILL be found out, maybe before they consider making you an offer, maybe after you’ve been on the job for a while. And once your credibility is shot, your credibility is shot. Trust is one of those qualities that is difficult to gain, impossible to truly prove, yet easy to lose. And when it’s lost, it becomes exponentially more difficult to regain.

Case in point: David Edmondson, who was Radio Shack’s CEO for 11 years, until after it surfaced (and he admitted) that he lied on his resume about his academic credentials, specifically about a degree he never actually earned. He was asked to leave by the board of directors, in addition to suffering intense public humiliation and possibly irreparable damage to his reputation. Maybe he learned from this and can turn himself around. I hope so.

The truly mind-boggling aspect of this to me is that people seem to fabricate things more and more on their resumes in an era where more and more companies are performing background checks on employees of all levels, and it’s easier than ever to get caught.

There’s an interesting article here on this issue, which includes an overview of how companies check the facts on your resume. Resumes: Fake it and you break it

To your success,

David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com

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