Resume or application fraud is the act of including false information in your CV. Sometimes, it doesn’t have to be a total lie, it can be just “stretching the truth”. This practice is becoming increasingly common, especially among young people searching for a job who don’t have relevant work experience.
The main reason they do this is to get a job interview or even a position for which they are not qualified. This can include lying about their foreign languages level or software knowledge. Even inventing past jobs to cover unemployment gaps.
Many young jobseekers feel they need to give false information about their education, inventing diplomas or awards, when actually, employers give more importance to a solid work experience than to achievements related to studies.
Another very common item is fictitious past jobs. To pad their resume, the candidate mentions a fake job, position and even a boss, giving a relative or friend’s phone number as a reference. This person will pretend to be the aforementioned boss if he or she is contacted at some point to verify the candidate’s work experience. Another version of this lie is naming a previous boss or company they worked for but saying they are no longer in business or out of touch.
Professional skills and knowledge of a particular area are more difficult for a company to verify. However, a good way to do this is through a series of tests as part of the application process.
Resume fraud may be seen as a violation of criminal law. Besides being, if discovered by the employer, almost always a reason for dismissal, there have been startling cases where people have ended up being sued or behind bars for lying on their Curriculum Vitae. This is because nowadays, with access to the Internet and particularly, social networks such as Facebook or MySpace, information about your work and personal life are available instantly, so employers cand find out the truth after a simple search.
To sum up, our advice is always telling the truth. You don’t need to lie, you only need to write a strong, well-structured resume. If you’re right for the job, you’ll get it. And if you lack qualifications, you can try writing a good Cover letter or try your best face to face if you get a job interview. Good luck!

By Romy