Resume Inflation 5

[jfpe]

I came across a former junior coworker's resume on a networking site. He had vastly overstated his achievements and job responsibilities. For example he said he "managed" one job where I recall he couldn't read any of the drawings or even talk intelligently to the electrician.

Has anyone else seen this? Do I just ignore it? I'm a little concerned about what will happen if we ever end up competing for the same job.

John

 

[MikeHalloran]

He probably had it 'punched up a bit' by a pim... er, recruiter.

Given today's market, you probably will end up competing for the same job... and he'll get it, briefly. When they discover his real talents, they'll be looking for someone who actually has what he claimed. That's when your honest and verifiable resume will serve you well.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[rowingengineer]

I am a firm believer in Karma, so if it were me I wouldn't go out of my way to correct this error, If someone asked me then I make give the facts but otherwise his references are for this purpose.
As a person whom is looking for employees now, I can tell you that if you overstate your experience you will be found out in the interview or the first week of employment.


When in doubt, just take the next small step.

 

[patprimmer]

A trumped up resume is fraud. Plain and simple it is attempting to steal a salary by deception. It not only cheats the employer of the salary he paid, but also cheats those who did not get the job because their resume was honest.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

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[Ron]

Pat is exactly right. If you suspect this or know of it, call him on it. Let him know that it is unprofessional and unethical. If he is by any chance licensed, report him as it is a statutory violation in most areas.

Sorry, but I don't buy the touchy-feely karma crap. Give him his due.

 

[msquared48]

That's "doo" Ron, as in Zoo Doo.

Eventually he will be stuck in a pile of it of his own making.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

[Ron]

Hey Mike...is that like...da do ron ron ron, da do ron ron?

 

[msquared48]

No. That was a good song. Remember it well.

The tune from his resume stinks though. Lots of elephant doo here. He needs to dance to a different tune.


Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

[SomptingGuy]

A bigged-up resume generally falls flat at the first real (non-HR) interview. I guess it can be a door-opener though.

- Steve

 

[patprimmer]

I have had personal experience where HR put on a state manager in a small state without checking his references. He was very incompetent and dishonest in many other ways as well to as petty as stealing an extra meal at a self serve restaurant.

I knew some of his past colleagues very well. They told mre his real history. I passed it on but HR covered their rear end and ignored me. 12 months later he lost our biggest customer who was 1/3 of my business units national turnover and 1/3 of his states turnover. We then had to close that office and retrench a few other people and I struggled for viability for another year.

Regards
Pat
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[JLSeagull]

Few prospective employers check references beyond verification of their employment period. Some may inquire whether the candidate would be considered for rehire.

I prefer for a resume' to be somewhat understated. I don't worry much about someone else embellishing their resume' a bit. Embellishing may include term "supervised" or "responsible" when they only participated.

However, I get upset at clear fraud. One of the examples is a diploma mill degree. I would rather hire a non degreed "engineer" than someone with a diploma mill degree.

If an employee submits an application with fraudulent claims they can be fired for cause. This may include bogus information on a resume'. However, few companies would pursue the issue for a rosy picture painted on a resume'.

 

[patprimmer]

This guy claimed his last job was State Manager for an opposition company. He was in fact a sales rep and the only employee in that state. He was not a manager and was fired for incompetence even as a sales rep.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm

for site rules

 

[MintJulep]

Just drop him a line and offer to be a reference for him.

If anyone calls for a reference you can fill them in.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

MJ,
I'm hoping that was said tongue in cheek... if not, that sets the stage for a nasty lawsuit (even if all facts are true).

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[jmw]

The guy is probably likely to present well enough if the interview isn't too demanding and he will get the job.
He will be on a probationary period and HR will probably fail to fire him within that period and if a UK company, they're stuck with him.

What they then have to do is follow the procedures and document every failing until they are bullet proof on justification to sack him. They may even keep him on when they make others redundant just to be sure he doesn't profit financially from a redundancy.

Seen it done.

At least in the US they can usually can him immediately they discover he is defective.

The correct procedure is to interview with particular attention to his CV claims, explore his references and then not give him the job.
Yeah, that's gonna happen?

In "The Apprentice" (UK version with Sir Alan Sugar of Amstrad fame) in last years contest one contestant said he had been two years at University but in the interviews the interviewer found him out... he'd been for just four months.
Guess what, he won the competition.
(

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...ueen-winner-of-BBC-show-despite-CV-lies.html)

The reason you have to worry is that he will be blocking jobs others deserve and because Management and HR are sloppy or have strange ideas about acceptable behaviour.

More important, how widespread is it?

My last company they hired some guy (after I'd left) who had impeccable references and CV but HR fell down on the job and they only discovered, during his first week, as it happens, that he was an illegal immigrant (who had nicked the identity and CV from an online recruitment site) when the police contacted when they caught him in a disused warehouse.




JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[Ron]

I had one apply to my company about 20 years ago. Resume was reasonably impressive, but he was not licensed in this state. His resume said another state. His degree was from the same university from which I graduated, was the same degree I have, and amazingly the same year and month of graduation. I went to a large university; however, the civil engineering department from which I graduated only had about 20 to 30 graduates each term. This guy wasn't in my class. I asked him if the month and date of graduation were correct. He looked at them and confirmed that they were accurate and even implied that I had a lot of nerve to ask such, since he was sure when he graduated. I knew, at least by site and name, each of the graduates of my class. He wasn't one of them. He also never graduated from that university, was not an engineer, was never licensed in my state or any other, and assumed I wouldn't check, because the last firm didn't check (they provided a reference for him). Needless to say, but I will....I didn't hire the guy.

Moral...if you're going to lie on your resume, find out where your interviewer went to school and don't use that one!

 

[IRstuff]

Similar story. I was working at a company, and they had just hired a new manager, who had also come from my previous company. We get to talking, I remembered him, but he had no idea who I was. He starts to talk about how he came up with all these solutions to problems on a particular chip. Little did he know, I was working on that chip, and had NEVER seen him do ANYTHING on my project. Luckily, his project was terminated, so I never had to do anything out of the way.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[JLSeagull]

Mine is a similar story.

I graduated from Oklahoma State University in January 1972. I interviewed an "engineer" whose resume' reflected "BSEE, Great Western University, Tulsa, OK 1972.

I thought that I knew of every university in Oklahoma and every engineering or technology program, especially with a BSEE degree. I checked telephone information at Tulsa with no listing for Great Western University. I called the Oklahoma Board of Regents who advised that Great Western University was one of three names used by a diploma mill until they were convicted of wire fraud.

Besides not hiring the bloke, I was also upset that HR did not review resume's at all. This is one way that you can learn about HR.

 

[drewp29]

From my limited perspective I have a difficult time putting anything on a resume that might be taken out of context or believed to be something greater than what it was. I have a hard time putting 3 semesters of graduate school as education because I didn't finish the degree, though I have been thoroughly lashed for suggesting I should remove it.

I just don't understand how anyone expects false information on a resume to not be discovered, whether in the interview or shortly after being hired. Ethically speaking, my conscience would not allow me to falsify my work experience. Besides, I would rather get hired based on accurate, if slightly down-played, work experience and then surprise them with my skills than get the job based on trumped up descriptions of previous employment.

Seagull - were you really that surprised by HR not reviewing resumes?

 

[JLSeagull]

Yes, being naive, I was surprised that HR does not review résumé’s to see if they have the skills that you are hiring for - and that a university listed actually exists. However that was in about 1990.