For those of you who have commented on the "IT status quo" issue, the results and commentary are coming out next week, August 13^th. Sorry for the delay, but I think that you’ll be interested in what debunker readers had to say.

Some of you may have been on vacation last week and missed out on the first ever NoSpin Debunker poll about "resume embellishment." If so, please take a look at last week’s survey, NoSpinMarketing Debunker Poll--Resume Embellishment, and feel free to respond if you haven’t already. This debunker provides a quick commentary on the responses to date. Many thanks to you readers who did respond.

The poll results:

• Nearly 4 in 5 respondents said that they personally knew someone who had "embellished" their resume
• Three fourths said that they thought that at least 30% of all people embellish their resumes (including a third of those saying that over half of all people embellish their resumes)
• 90% of respondents said that taking action to fire an employee who had embellished his/her resume would depend on the severity of the embellishment. The other 10% said "Fire ‘em."
• A quarter of respondents personally know someone who had lost a job because of embellishing a resume.

No doubt about it, employees and prospective employees are spinning it--

BIG TIME!

A headhunter respondent to the Debunker poll added," Tom, as a headhunter, I have a box seat for this activity. It is epidemic in proportions!

Whereas respondents did not condone "resume embellishment," most felt that there is a big difference between an outright lie versus a lesser "exaggeration." Here’s what a few respondents had to say:

"Severity of embellishment is crucial. Sometimes a phrase ("responsible for") implies a greater degree than it really is. That is different than saying you were awarded a degree but actually did not."

"Not all embellishers are equal. Some embellishers are in need of reality checks and really think that they are all they say (e.g., "have extensive experience" that others would not consider extensive...some embellishers provide fraudulent information intentionally and are much more serious offenders."

"#3 is a tough question. While I believe honesty is a precursor to trust - which is necessary for a successful working relationship, I recognize that "embellishment" to one is just "positioning it best" to another. Again, it would depend on the "embellishment."

Apparently, there’s embellishment and then there’s embellishment–so where to draw the line?

Do you fire someone if he or she--

• Fills a "time gap" in a resume with fluff or another past job?
• Leaves out a "bad" job experience?
• Exaggerates the level of experience/expertise?
• Fabricates a job?
• Lies about a job title?
• Fibs about another piece of personal background (e.g. served in the Armed Forces, or fought in Vietnam, etc), was an Eagle Scout, climbed Mt. Everest?
• Manufactures some other minor or major prevarication, fabrication, or equivocation about their experience, background, personal history?

If you want NoSpinMarketing to do a short follow-up poll on where to draw the line with resume embellishers, let me know. And send me your additional comments (on or off-the-record).

It appears that resume embellishment is so endemic to the process of recruiting and finding jobs as to make the resume thing almost a charade. But why do "it" ("resume embellishment") at all? Sure you want to put your best foot forward on paper (or in person). No one has a problem with that. I contend that a lot of job seekers don’t do a very good job at presenting their strengths–instead they find it easier to make up stuff that (they think) "sounds good."

Every time another person who writes a resume that exaggerates, equivocates, prevaricates, or flat out lies, he or she demeans the whole process further. Can a job seeker fake out some stupid employers? No question about it. But best case, they are going to set up some unrealistic expectations–and worst case, a percentage of people do get fired when their lies come to light. Sure there are degrees of being a "resume dirt ball." In my opinion, among the worst are those who lie about things like having served in Vietnam (which appears to be the new "in" thing for executives, actors, and others to fabricate on their resumes. It’s unethical and disgusting at best.

Employers condone the process. Most are too lazy to make a few phone calls to check out potential "resume dirt balls"–much less do other evaluations or background checks. Hence, a lot of corporations are contributing to the denigration of the job searching process as well. What if there was a website/organization for employers to check out chronic resume cheats? A business opportunity for someone?

Wrote one respondent, "One MUST assume that anyone who would overtly LIE and/or misrepresent the facts about their own life does so out of some deep-seated insecurity or need for attention. Or, in the alternative -- such person may actually have a "super ego" -- and may have fallen victim to "believing their own bullshit" and actually "think" that they’ve done what they said they have done on their embellished resume. That is a very dangerous trap... What kind of person has such lack of conscience to lie and even put such lie on paper???? Do you want to work with them, and trust them ???? NO!!!!!"

Can it get even worse?

Another respondent thinks so, especially in the high tech world: "This phenomenon will get worse before it gets better! All of the failed dot-comers (ages 21-35) will have to embellish to try and justify their CEO/VP/Director titles."

If you’ve got more to say about the topic of resume embellishment, let me know (on or off-the-record) and let me know if you’d like a follow-up poll to identify where the lines are to fire or not fire resume embellishers. Thanks

NoSpin Debunkers are free weekly online newsletters written by Tom Ranseen. If at anytime you would like to be removed from the NoSpin Debunker reader list, please Unsubscribe. Otherwise, enjoy, join the conversation, and please forward this debunker to as many friends/acquaintances as you think may be interested–or send me their email addresses. Thanks.

Tom Ranseen NoSpinMarketing 615.383.7157