Confession
time, guys. I may have…I mean, I did… *clears throat*
I
lied on my CV.
For
years I actually typed out lies, printed them off and handed them out
to people – not just people, potential employers. Surely the worst
people to lie to… and yet the people we as a species seem to lie to
the most?! Ugh, I am shuddering just thinking about it.
(Source: Almost Writers)
Another
friend confessed that she put up family friends as references –
ones with decent high-paying occupations, who worked for recognisable
brands and thus would incite interest if a CV reader noticed
them…plus, being family friends, they’d always have her back and
sing her praises! Foolproof fib. But slightly evil.
The
worst offender, though, would have to be my pal who claimed he could
drive. Yup, he said on his CV that he was in possession of a full UK
driving licence – and had use of a car. He has
never had a lesson in his life, let alone got a set of wheels. He
lives in London and gets buses!
Me?
I have only ever lied about a couple of school grades, and sometimes
the duration of past employment. Like, if I worked somewhere from the
end of one month to the beginning of another, I’ll say that
whole month – the end of that month, if that makes sense. I
don’t give specific dates. Does anyone, though?
When
my dad had a look at my CV recently before I applied for an
internship, just to suggest any additions or removals or a different
form of presentation, he called me out on those lies. I hung my head
in shame, because I realised that…yeah. It was dumb.
What if I’d been challenged?!
I
recently read the magical YA author Lauren James’ blog post, ‘24
Things I’ve Learnt in 24 Years‘,
which was essentially a ‘do this and save all
the money‘,
‘do that and immediately make life better for yourself’ type of
thing. It was a list of super mature life hacks! I loved all the
banking tips – and book purchasing tricks – but the item on the
list that stuck out the most to me was #11: Over-hype
yourself on your CV. There
was a little explanation about how your CV is ‘not the place to be
modest’ and that yes, being overconfident is a must.
I’d
say yes to the over-hyping, always. Don’t be shy – sell yourself!
But then…there’s a fine line between hype flaunts and plain lies.
Know your limits.
I’m
not being a preachy mama here, I’m just saying it because of this:
what if they call you out? What if you’re asked about work
experience you totally made up?! What if they call
for some references from people you invented? Or –
and yes, this is the most unlikely, but still – they demand
certificates to prove you really did get 3 A*s at A Level when
you actually got BDE??!
Wise
up, jobseekers. It’s not worth the lying. Having said that, I know
we all do it, and if you’re not going to stop altogether, at least
be smarter about it.
(This was originally a guest post I wrote for Almost Writers, 2017.)
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