CNN: Top 5 resume lies

[Jessica Sant]

Top 5 resume lies
The truth is stretched thin in resumes and on interviews by a notable number of job seekers.

In a nutshell:
1: Education - saying you went somewhere you didn't, or that you graduated from somewhere, when you didn't have enough credits
2: Job Title - bumping up your job.
3: Compensation - saying you made more than you really did.
4: Reason for leaving - saying you quit or were laid off when you were really fired.
5: Accomplishment - exaggerating how much you contributed to a project.


So.... anyone going to fess up to the above?

I've "tweaked" a job title -- but not to make it sound more important -- just more descriptive, and what I actually did was always spelled out in the paragraph next to the title. I wouldn't count that as a lie.

[Jay Shin]

I've "tweaked" a job title -- but not to make it sound more important -- just more descriptive

That should be fine. My official job title is "Programmer/Analyst" but I use more descriptive one on my resume - "Java/J2EE Software Developer".

I would never lie about Education and Employment History because these are very easy to verify.
I know someone who got a job offer from a top investment bank and started working, and got fired later because they found out he bumped up his GPA on his resume.

[Vijay Vaddem]

I would never lie about Education and Employment History because these are very easy to verify

Agreed. I prefer not to mention any such detail in my resume rather than lying...

Ofcourse, I did changed my "career objectives" couple of times
to suit the position requirements....

[Ronald Aguilar]

Writing resume is like selling yourself to your future employer. Most of the time, the employer just scan the resumes looking for key words like J2EE. Your resume acts like putting your foot at the door inorder to get an interview like changing your carrer objectives, but what really matters is how you do you deliver your projects.

[Jesse Torres]

Originally posted by Jay Shin:



That should be fine. My official job title is "Programmer/Analyst" but I use more descriptive one on my resume - "Java/J2EE Software Developer".

I would never lie about Education and Employment History because these are very easy to verify.
I know someone who got a job offer from a top investment bank and started working, and got fired later because they found out he bumped up his GPA on his resume.

I have a basic question. Instead of putting "Web app developer" on my resume, can I put Java/J2EE Software Developer? I am utilizing J2EE to build Web applications.

Thanks,

[Damian FRACH]

- Instead of putting "Web app developer" on my resume,
- can I put Java/J2EE Software Developer?

what about "Senior J2EE Specialist" ???

same job as a web developer, but sounds better ...


also in my free time I am developing with my friend a small app for our department; so in my CV I have: "J2EE/Database Architect and Project Manager" ...

[Jeroen Wenting]

senior has special meaning, so has specialist.

If you're indeed an expert and fullfill a lead role in your team (and have for some time) you can probably get away with it.
Overall I'd use senior only for fields in which you have at least 5 years fulltime experience and done at least some tutoring/coaching work of others on your team.

[Jay Shin]

Originally posted by Damian FRACH:

also in my free time I am developing with my friend a small app for our department; so in my CV I have: "J2EE/Database Architect and Project Manager"

Is your official title "Architect/Project Manager" or equivalent in your organization? If not, this is BS you should not put on your resume.

Anyone can write a personal application in his free time and be his own boss. I am also writing a small Swing app for hobby and I am the CEO/CTO/CIO/COO of this project.

[Damian FRACH]

Is your official title "Architect/Project Manager" or equivalent in your organization? If not, this is BS you should not put on your resume.

Anyone can write a personal application in his free time and be his own boss. I am also writing a small Swing app for hobby and I am the CEO/CTO/CIO/COO of this project.

well, it is up to you ...

my official title is "J2EE support team leader"
but I am also developing out of my normal duties J2EE apps for about 1-2000 people in my department; the development team is me and 1 my colleague

so in my CV is:
- J2EE support team leader (official work title)
- J2EE/database architect
- project manager

I can prove I DO all 3 jobs described above
of course I am not full time project manager or architect...

but I will NEVER write to my CV I was only "J2EE developer", because I need to sustain my senior expert level in my CV

IMO this "type" of laying in CVs is common and useful, but:
- you have to be able to prove it (let's say your previous manager will give you this reference)
- you have to be able to speak about that: why/why NOT EJBs, Hibernate, JDBC, EJB3, AOP, bla bla bla

BTW my friend asked me to check his CV: he was 4 years "JAVA test/QA engineer"; I told him to change it: "senior JAVA test/QA specialist"
- is it laying? can they prove you are laying?
- what is a "difference" between an engineer and specialist???
- especially if your company does not use this title
- of course you have to able to speak like "senior specialist" at least for 20 minutes; why/why not JUnit, Cactus, future technologies, JAVA tuning, different garbage collectors, bla bla bla

Other my friend worked with Americans for about 2 years. During job interview he was told that his English CV is quite OK. He answered that written English it is much more easier then spoken English ... Well he did not get the job
- so should you say your english is good or bad?
- IMO if your english is bad, you can still say your english is good, but also you have to be able to prove it. E.g. my English is good, because I worked with Americans 2 years and I have not had any problems ...

IMO the CV is about personal marketing and PR and clever manipulating of facts. Like politics.

I do not say it is good, I do not say it is bad.