With millions struggling with long-term unemployment, the temptation to stretch the truth on one’s resume to gain a competitive advantage is becoming harder to resist, says jobs outplacement specialists Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Some desperate job seekers are going so far as to establish fake references, Challenger Gray says. However, the payoff may not be worth the risk.
“These are indeed desperate times, and desperate measures are definitely required to find a job,” said CEO John A. Challenger. “However, these desperate measures should not include lying on resumes, falsifying work histories, or buying fake references and diplomas. Instead, job seekers should be considering seeking positions in different cities, states, or even countries.
“There is very little proof that any form of resume boosting directly results in a job interview, much less a job offer,” Challenger said. “In contrast, there are scores of examples of individuals who have been eliminated from candidacy or fired after a fraudulent resume was uncovered.”
The significantly weakened job market, which is expected to continue to struggle even as other segments of the economy begin to recover, creates an environment that is ripe for resume boosting, Challenger Gray said. As of January there were 14.8 million unemployed Americans. Of those, 6.3 million or 41.2 percent have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer. Another six million have opted out of the labor force but still want a job.Â
Statistics on resume fraud are difficult to obtain because only a fraction of resumes are ever checked for discrepancies, Challenger said. The best evidence of resume fraud’s pervasiveness may come from the companies that provide employment screening services.
In its 2009 Hiring Index, business services provider ADP reported that 46 percent of employment, education and/or credential reference checks conducted in 2008 revealed discrepancies between what the applicant provided and what the source reported, Challenger Gray said. That was up from 41 percent in 2006.Â
