I know that there is usually a fair amount of “padding” that goes on with resumes — how much is too much? Where should I draw the line?

It is a common perception that most resumes are documents containing more fiction than fact. Authors will add designations and degrees, adjust employment dates, and even make up jobs. Do this at your peril! There are many high-profile cases of resume cheats getting caught out by employers and severely injuring their careers as a result. There are two basic rules you must follow concerning truth in resume writing.

Rule 1: Don’t lie

This is the cardinal rule of resume writing. The risks are simply not worth the effort in fabricating the information. Remember, you need to expand upon what?s written on your resume in an interview situation, which can be a nerve-wracking experience in and of itself. Trying to remember what falsehoods you put down can only add to the pressure you?ll be under.

You can also get caught out in a lie relatively easily, sometimes even by pure chance, and that could easily sink your chances of getting the job in question. Even after getting the job, tall tales have come back to haunt their creators, in some cases leading to outright dismissal.

Rule 2: Do make the best of what you’ve got

We all know that the truth comes in many different sizes, shapes, and varieties. The art of great resume writing is all about presenting the facts in the best possible light. Let?s look at an example of one small part of someone?s resume to illustrate what I mean. While employed at XYZ organization, let?s suppose you had implemented a new financial reporting system. It is certainly true to characterize what you did as:

Implemented a financial reporting system.

Certainly a true statement, but ask yourself: “So What?” Did this result in anything beneficial for the organization?

Typically, the answer is “yes” — as in this example: “Yes, of course, it allowed us to provide financial statements to the regulators in half the time, using three quarters of the staff we used to.” Was the new system better than the existing system? To improve the accomplishment statement above, simply incorporate this additional information:

Implemented a leading edge financial reporting system that allowed a 50% improvement in financial statement delivery times to regulators, using 25% less staff resources.

See how far you can take each accomplishment — for our example above, was the project on time and on budget? Was it multilateral, involving the coordination of several departments?

A near-final version might look like this:

Implemented a leading edge financial reporting system, on time and under budget, that allowed a 50% improvement in financial statement delivery times to regulators, using 25% less staff resources.

One last improvement would be to put the benefit to the organization first, as in:

Improved financial statement delivery times to regulators by 50%, while using 25% less staff resources through the implementation of a leading edge financial reporting system, on time and under budget.

Now compare this statement to the first attempt — you can imagine hiring managers thinking “I want them doing that for MY organization!” Both of these statements are true in all ways — but which one is more likely going to lead to a job offer?

How much padding is too much?

You must be comfortable with your resume in every regard. It is your representative when you are not there in person, and your testament to defend when you are there. Trying to get away with a little white lie can cause irreparable harm to your job search, and even your career. While it is never good to lie, it is certainly okay to provide the best possible version of the truth. That should be the only padding that you do to your resume. It is a personal judgment call to determine how much padding is too much — use your own benchmark to gauge whether you could justifiably defend everything on your resume in an interview situation. Let your conscience be your guide.

Good Luck!

Mitchell Stephenson M.A., CPCC, is a senior partner and a certified professional career counsellor at Catalyst Careers, a career transition, counselling, and outplacement firm. Mitch has been involved in human resources, career counselling and coaching in the health and legal sectors for many years. To contact him, visit: www.catalystcareers.ca.

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