After hearing about Bonger bragging about his Bachelors degree, I thought how many people lie on their resume when they go for a job interview. Obviously some Career choices you can't but others I believe you can, AND you can get away with it. With the economy the way it is, it seems like jobs are tougher and tougher to get today, and employers are expecting more from their candidates like MORE EDUCATION. I heard you can't even get a bankteller job without a bachelors degree? That is nuts. There is no reason why you need a degree to get a bank teller job, yet most employers require it.

So my question is, have you ever lied and said you had a degree when you really didn't? I'll be completely honest, I don't have a bachelors degree, I do have an associates degree, and YES I have lied on my resume and said I have a bachelors degree, even though I really don't. I have been at my current job for 4 years, and I'm making WAY more money than most of my friends, but yes, I did lie and say I had a Bachelors degree. The current job I have, you really don't need a bachelors degree. THEY TRAIN YOU, so really you don't need a 4 year degree to do a lot of jobs, yet employees require one.
Infact I've known many people who go to school and get useless degrees like a "History degree," get out of school and can't find work. They are in debt for another 20 years trying to pay off this useless degree and can't find work.

Plus Im guessing most jobs don't go out and check to see if you really do have the degree. They haven't with me.

Well, I have a Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology from Harvard.....does that count? ;o)

Lying on a resume is playing with fire bigtime. People have been fired after years of employment when their employer finds out.

Resumes may get you an interview, they don't get you a job,
at least not at a place with an organized hiring program.

Any interviewer worth their salt can spot a liar and a faker in about 3 minutes. If you're lucky enough to get by that, your next interviewer will be knowledgeable in the area to which you are applying, and with a few key questions can surmise the level of your expertise.

Embellishing and filtering your resume is an art. There are entire businesses that do nothing but that.

I have a BSEE and don't have to lie about it. As you get older and have more work experiences, the challenge becomes what to leave out so as to not come across as either too old, unemployable, overqualified, a know it all, etc.

This also applies to being self employed and trying to sell your firm's service or product.

Always remember: You can't bullshit a bullshitter.

Claiming a degree that you do not have will catch up to you someday.

On the other hand, I have known of people who, as Andy points out, intentionally leave a degree off their resumes when applying for certain types of jobs. One of my friends, for instance, was applying for some equipment technician jobs. He had a bachelor's degree in computer science, as well as an associate's degree. I can't remember what the title of the associate's program was, but I do remember that it included classes in welding, machining, etc. In his resume for the technician jobs he omitted the computer science degree.

The logic behind what my friend did was that many larger companies have formally-defined pay scales that are tied to the employee's education. Thus somebody coming into the company with a bachelor's degree is guaranteed a certain minimum pay, even if that person has zero industry experience. If the company knew that my friend had a bachelor's degree, then they would have to pay him more, due to the pay grade system, than what the company considers the work of an entry-level technician to be worth. In a more colloquial sense, the company would have seen my friend as "overqualified."

One of the problems many have these days is being overqualified, in that they have been downsized out of a job and need to take something a bit lower on the ladder. That's almost as big a killer as being under qualified.

I think that my friend could have gotten another job in computer science if he had really wanted to. As I understand it, his experiences at his first and only computer science job left a (really) bad taste in his mouth.

Isn't that how you get to the top, lying and deception?

"Have you ever lied on your resume?"

Nope. Don't need to. If something important needs to get done people find me.

I've not had to produce a resume in quite some time. The last coupla jobs I took were through connections I made.

That's the way to get good, solid jobs with people you enjoy working with.

Spend a TON of time on the networking. It pays off. Doing the occasional side project helps too.

When I've had to do a resume, I do not do the standard format.

Mine goes as follows:

(1) page cover letter, addressed to somebody in the company. I call to get this name. If I can't get the name, then the job is one of those lotto type things where a million people are applying. Not worth it. Look elsewhere.

In that cover letter, do your homework and explain why you are a good fit for them, not why you want to work for them. That's for the interview, not the cover letter.

Those things leave as many doors open as possible for you to deal in the interview.

(1) page relevant skills and accomplishments. I put this in the form of, skill + project / task achieved = value to company, or business goal realized from it.

I list this with work history, so they can see the positions held, and stuff done over time.

That's tough, but it's also something they just don't see often.

I do not list education, nor any of the other crap that typically fills the resume. References on request. I also do not list salary information either. That's a negioation that occurs at the time of employment.

What I'm worth and what they are willing to pay is something to be talked about, and when they ask, I enter that conversation with that in mind and am perfectly up front about my needs and wants. (the right salary is somewhere between those things, but not below the needs --and I'm honest about that)

References supplied on request.

The beauty of this kind of thing is that you can articulate what your value to them will be. Those accomplishments not relevant to the prospective job at hand, simply don't appear on the resume.

That's why it's only one sheet for that stuff!

I do put contact info, and ask they contact me for any clarifications, and that's when I can feel them out for or prior to an interview.

That's it.

Never, ever lie on these things. It's not worth it, and can stick with you and have to be maintained by you for a very, very long time.

If you must, put in an additional skills section, and don't tie that to the work history. That way, you can detail that you can do something that perhaps you built the skill up on side / contract projects for your own personal growth.

(I've done this a time or two, easy to explain and ties in to mostly positive conversations. No big deal.)

Make no mistake, the interview is a deal. You are there to sell your services, and they are there to qualify them, and get them at the best price possible.

If you've not thought through how that might go, and what your value is, do not go. It will be a complete waste of time for you and them.

After hearing about Bonger bragging about his Bachelors degree


Bonger got a bachelors degree? I'm shocked! What did he get his degree in? "Weed-ology"

I've heard plenty of resume advice, such as don't give dates of employment or whatever... most of the time, however, it seems the company still wants an application with specifics given... including dates worked somewhere and pay (sometimes starting and ending); education received, name of school, title of credential, when awarded; and usually two to four business references. I don't lie there, I simply say that previous employers' policies forbid me from asking for business references. Almost all employment applications and other documents I've been under state that any dishonesty in the hiring process on my part is subject to my termination at any time.

What I've heard is that sometimes a company might not verify things until in some cases years after being hired, or will do things like criminal background and/or credit checks every now and then, not just during the hiring process.

If you've not thought through how that might go, and what your value is, do not go. It will be a complete waste of time for you and them.
I agree... which is why this is in bold instead of italics. I've had things come up where people have asked me if I'm interested in some position I have no interest in, or have no passion in... that's not fair to anyone (do I have passion for things I'm probably never going to be paid to do? Yes, and that's why they're called "hobbies"). I've also had to work with people who are only there because they have a mortgage and/or a family and/or credit card bills and/or sick/disabled parents/kids/spouse, and it's very obvious they don't give a rip about their job or anything, just collecting a paycheck and keeping their benefits (which, as far as I know, are designed as a 'value-add' for that job and not meant to be something that makes the job 'worth it'). Nothing in the U.S. Constitution says we have a right to a job, income, or money in general.

Here we go... I don't care who did or didn't write this, it's darn good.
http://www.bigeye.com/billofno.htm

I do provide that stuff, but only when they ask. If there is a form, (and there almost always is) I try to make that a formality, as in I've met the people and have already had conversations that indicate providing that information has a significant chance of leading to employment.

That's why the networking is so important.

Also, I read and edit non-competes. Those things are brutal. Forgot to mention those things. Most all employers will deal on them too. Everybody wants to keep employment related things under control, and personal stuff personal. The average non-compete can make that tough.

A lot of this stuff is geared toward putting you in a position where you can't deal. It's worth it to avoid that, because you really do need to deal, if you want the job fit to be a good one.

Simply put on the non-competes, conflict of interest papers, non-disclosures, anything where the company wants to regulate what you do or don't do outside of work, etc.: Everyone needs to become their own best advocate and read/understand what they're signing. If not, ask. If they don't want to explain, everyone that's at-will always has the option of saying "no thank-you," walk back out the door, and keep looking.

Totally.

A coupla hundred bucks spent on an attorney works in a pinch too. Take the agreement "under consideration" and go sort it all out.

Ahem . . . working for a union shop sort of resolves all these contract headaches, huh?

Depends.

Could be good, could be bad. Depends on what was done at the bargaining table, and the line of work.

IMHO, a union isn't a fix all for this.

Bottom line is that you will be dealing with somebody. Union or not.