How much can you lie on resumes about work experience?

Question

I am 20, almost 21 years old and for certain reasons I haven't been able to get a job until now. I am worried that I won't get anything above Taco Bell since I don't have work experience. I would be a good worker (hopefully a waiter) and I wanted to know how I could get around my lack of experience. My dad owns a business and would vouch for me but can I also make up businesses and put my friends cell phones who will act like the owners? I'm not trying to trick anyone because I know I will work harder than most people with as much experience as I want to fake. Only serious answers please.

Umm... I'm not talking about a career I'm just talking about local restaurants. I just want to wait tables at Pizza Hut or something. I don't mean my dream job. calm down everyone...

Answer 1

seriously? go ahead and lie. everyone does it. no big deal. either lie or become a male "escort". thatd be cool too. certain reasons you havent got a job and your 20? good for you! keep it real hottie.

Answer 2

In this case, I would be completely honest on you resume. If you get into a position that trusted what you wrote on your resume, then you fail miserably, it will look MUCH MUCH worse than if you were just straight up from the get go. most employers will want experience, true, but that doesn't mean they won't take a chance with you and train you to their specs! As for getting in to a good wait job at a nice restaurant, I will just tell you that you are up against some some serious competition. Those are very coveted positions as they can be quite well paying. My advice to you is start small. Get going with a chain restaurant like Denny's and just get some experience, then you can start your plans of world domination once you know that this line of work will suit you.

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Outright lying on your resume is a really bad idea. It may get you an interview, but even if you're successful at that, you'll still have to fill out a job application before you're hired. The application is a legally binding document, and the employer has a right to sue if they find out you lied. If you tell the truth on your application, but lied on your resume, then the employer will see the discrepancy sooner or later and drop you faster than a hot potato.

You can, however, exaggerate slightly, or craft your resume to highlight certain favorable attributes. With the lack of job experience, your best bet is to highlight education (assuming you have some). If you've attended college, pick out a couple projects you worked on and discuss them briefly to show your skills, if you can. If you're not a college student or don't have any suitable education talking points, try to highlight volunteer work (even if you're "volunteering" for your dad's company).

If you have absolutely nothing truthful to put on your resume, then you'll have to settle for working for Taco Bell for six months. That will give at least *some* kind of experience to put on your resume. Beggars can't be choosers.

Answer 4

As a professional recruiter I can tell you that people do it ALL the time. I can also tell you it is a horrid idea. You will be found out at some point, and at that point you will cease to be employed. Not only that, but if you cannot possibly know what sort of environment you will be getting into based on false information. Employers (those who have been around for more than 15 minutes) can smell this miles away. If you think you're having problems getting jobs now.... just wait until you get in the front door based on BS.

What I tell all my clients is this: Never lie, because the truth sells WAY more copies. The answer to your question is in the problem itself... you claim you have no experience you are not looking at yourself in the correct way. You can use just about anything as experience so long as you actually did it.

For example: when I was first starting out after college I still had to list my first ever job because that was about all I had. I was a fry cook at Dairy Queen. Wow, really impressive. But what I did was change it up a bit. Instead of saying Dairy Queen, Fry Cook 02/93 - 06/94 I said Dairy Queen, Bovine Byproduct Transformation Engineer. This landed me my first ever "real job" as the marketing director/customer service manager for a start up technology company because of that.

Same thing, different wording. Try to look at what you HAVE done and spin it. This is called MARKETING. It's what the big boys do. Give it a shot. Never lie, but find a way to use what you have to your advantage.

Answer 5

I remember being 20 and I had no choice but to lie to get my foot through the corporate door. From experience do not lie about something that you are not capable of doing. For example, if you type 20 words per minute do not say you type 50 words per minute. If you managed 2 people do not say you managed 10. Trust me there is a huge difference. You can embellish your resume slightly, but do not go overboard. I actually did it once (I was about your age in fact and went overboard) and within two weeks of getting the position (accounting assistant) I was out of a job. What I learned in school and the little bookkeeping I did in McDonald's and Burger King was not the same thing as in the real world. Your boss will soon figure out if you lied. Again, keep it to little white lies and do not go overboard. Stick to what you know and what you know you can do.

Answer 6

I wouldn't lie on your resume. There are ways to stretch things though. Just think of what skills you would need to wait tables (polite, good customer service, teamwork, etc.). For example, if I scanned papers at work, I'm not going to call it scanning papers, I'm going to call it Document Control. It's not lying, but it sounds a lot better. You can look at school projects, volunteer projects, etc. Highlight skills you have. Hand-deliver a truthful resume and show that you would be the best worker. Use your friends as references. Even use your dad as a reference. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

This is a bad idea, hon. What if the company you apply with runs a background check and figures out that there is no "ABC Company?" What if they ask for a copy of your W2 (they legally can do this?) There are a million different ways this could come back to bite you.

Truth counts in interviews. Tell the interviewer that you you're hard working and ready to learn, you've been in school or working in the family business til now, etc. Believe me, with the turnover in food service, they aren't too picky about wanting tons of experience.

Just be real and you'll be fine. Good luck.

Answer 8

What you are suggesting is a fast route to not getting a job ever again!

What are the "certain reasons?"

Time in jail? Education that you dropped out of?

You need to confront this issue, build up some confidence and then go for it. Even with the best CV in the world, if you turn up for the interview with an attitude that says, "I don't have the confidence for this - I've had to lie" then you're doomed from the outset.

What's wrong with working with your Dad? Or probing his network for some help? Or even getting some voluntary work on the CV? Something that you can genuinely walk into a room with your head held high and say, "I did this and look at what I learnt..."

Answer 9

Legally, lying on a resume can be immediate grounds for dismissal. Many companies will troll the resume and application of those employees that want to get rid of but are afraid will sue them for lies, in order to have a ironclad reason to terminate the employee.

Never make up businesses for a resume. Employers have access to government records and some actually hire investigators to research potential employees. You will get yourself and your friends in trouble on this one. As for your dad, if you ever did help at his business (paid or not) ask him to write you a letter of recommendation mentioning what you did do.

Many of us did not start our work career until well into our 20's. We got the first job by convincing the employer that what we lacked in experience we more than made up for in enthusiasm and willingness to work hard. Good luck.

Answer 10

You can lie as much as you want on your resume.
Of course, if a potential employer checks up on any of those lies, don't expect them to call you any time soon.
Also, if they hire you based on those lies on your resume and you fail to demonstrate the expected level of experience they're likely to fire you. And of course that will be a big help in finding further employment.

Your statement that you would work harder than those with more experience caught my eye. Haven't you heard "work smarter, not harder" before?

Answer 11

that's a really bad idea, i'm 26 and i work in a law office and i know that if anyone ever misrepresented their experience on a resume they would be asked to leave immediately. if u r a good worker and enthusiastic, that will come off when u do an interview, but u also shouldn't be too eager to please.

i don't know wut's wrong with starting out with something like that tho, i worked as a waitress when i was in college and even now i am working as a secretary until i can go back to school, we all have to put in our time!