Employers must separate fact from fiction when checking résumés

An old maxim advises that honesty is the best policy, but desperate jobseekers may not heed that advice. Various surveys show that applicants often resort to submitting résumés that contain embellishments—or even outright lies. But employers don’t have to feel powerless when tackling hiring hazards.

Extent of the problem

One in five U.S. workers lied on their résumés during the past year, according to a survey from resume.io, an online résumé-building platform that aims to help jobseekers create résumés that are optimized for employer applicant tracking systems.

The resume.io survey of 600 U.S. professionals released in July shows Gen Z workers are stretching the truth at more than 10 times the rate of Baby Boomers.

What’s the most common résumé lie? Job titles and responsibilities, according to the research. Exaggerating skills was another common lie.

Who are the culprits?

Although Gen Z workers were found to be the worst offenders—with nearly four in 10 (37.1%) saying they had lied on a résumé during the past year—Millennials weren’t much better, with nearly one in three (29.3%) admitting to lying on a résumé recently.

That compares to 14.3% of Gen X workers who admitted to résumé lies during the past year and just 3.7% of boomers who admitted to recent résumé lies.