The Legal Risks of Lying on Your Resume

Which of us has never been tempted to “enhance” our resume? When you’re setting out all your skills and experience, there’s always that latent fear of insufficiency. And to rid yourself of this worry, the only thing that comes to mind is to lie on your resume.

One idea is to totally invent a special skill, especially when you want to talk up one of your previous jobs. So if you’ve worked as a waiter, you might like to add that you also mixed cocktails, to give the impression you’ve got a wide range of skills. Although it looks harmless on paper, lying on your CV can actually be very dangerous.

The Risks of Lying On Your Resume

First of all, there’s the risk of being discovered. Imagine that your employer believes you know how to make cocktails and takes you on for a trial period. Then a customer orders a spritz. Picture yourself trembling in front of the bottles and not knowing which ones to use.

Again, if you claim you know how to use a special programs required for that job, but in fact don’t have a clue, you won’t even last the initial trial period.

Quite apart from the fact that lying about qualifications and work experience is a crime, companies often carry out checks on candidates’ previous employment to test the accuracy of their CV. If you’re applying for a job in the public sector, they may ask for proof of your qualifications, and you may well be excluded if you fail to provide it.

Last but not least, if you’re going to lie, you have to be good at it. If you’re a generally honest person, when you’re questioned about that detail you added to your CV, you’ll start to sweat and your voice will start to shake. If the boss catches you out or suspects you’re lying, he may decide to reject you anyway. Is it really worth the candle?