At what point does it become lying?

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Exaggerating accomplishments on your CV appears to be seen by many as acceptable behaviour. When Lee McQueen of ‘The Apprentice’ fame lied on his CV about the length of time he had been at university he was given a grilling by Sir Alan but eventually went on to win. So, is it alright to embellish your achievements? The simple answer is no, on no account lie on your CV.

Consider the case of another Lee, this time Lee Joseph Whitehead, who has recently been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for lying to his employers, Stoke on Trent Primary Care Trust. This Lee also embellished his CV, giving himself a few spurious qualifications, namely an extra MSc and PhD, plus membership of the British Psychological Society (Health Service Journal, 06.01.09).

When his qualifications were checked, they were found to be false and he found himself facing a criminal prosecution. He had got away with it once before when employed by an earlier PCT who were less careful about checking through the CVs of their potential employees. Lee, flushed with his earlier success, obviously thought he would try it again. Either that or he got stuck in the paradigm he had created for himself and couldn’t subsequently change it.

Whatever the reasons, the cautionary tale is real. Lee Joseph Whitehead will now have a prison record and his integrity is shot to pieces. Why take this kind of risk when you don’t have to? The obvious question is, would Lee have got the job anyway? Did he risk his career for nothing? He might well have done. Is a doctorate in psychology a usual requirement for a director of planning and service modernisation? He should, perhaps, have stuck with his BSc and worked harder at bringing out his strengths for the post in a less fraudulent way.

You have a legal obligation to be honest when writing your CV. However tempting it is to stretch the truth a little, and this is especially so when recession fears become real, resist it. You must remember that the information you are giving your future employer, including the references, form part of a contract and if you are found to be lying then you are in breach of that contract and, at best, the firm is under no obligation to keep you. And at worst, you could face criminal prosecution for fraud.

So when does stretching your achievements actually become lying? Is it all right to embellish your claims with what appears to be relatively harmless items, for example, adding a few extra weeks to a rather short work experience. Or claiming a love of extensive travel when the furthest distance actually travelled has been to Dieppe on a day trip? Once again, it is simply unwise to go down this route. Anyone half competent at recruitment will quickly see through it. Any discrepancies with dates, unexplained gaps in time or extravagant claims that don’t match the rest of the CV stand out to an experienced recruiter and your CV will be heading for the bin without further consideration. Further, if you get through the first sieve, imagine how hard the interview will be when you find yourself lying out loud. It is one thing to write extravagant claims on paper, quite another to be fluent in front of an interview panel. If you are found to be lying, even if it is only a small point, then the rest of your CV will be questioned, and you will be most likely back searching the job pages again.

Lee of 'The Apprentice' fame got away with it because he had twelve or so weeks to show his worth. You will have much less opportunity and to start with a lie is a crazy way to begin.

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