Question

2-3 paragraph response. Ethics: What are five distinct ways some may choose to misrepresent themselves on their résumé? And why would they?

Answer 1

There are many ways in which candidates misrepresent themselves in their resumes. some of these are:

1. Candidates exaggerate their educational qualifications and credentials in their resumes. sometimes people give their credentials of taking up a certain course or being a part of the program even if they would have attended only one class and hadn't graduated from the program. by far, this is the most common misrepresentation in the resumes.

2. Sometimes, there are gaps during the candidate's employment. They fill this gap up by stretching their work experience to accommodate the gap.

3. Candidates give false skills attributes such as high proficiency in a language even though they would have taken the language just for a year in their school.

4. Many times candidates don't disclose their past activities especially the criminal run-ins. It is ok not to disclose the criminal past but sometimes it affects the candidate's ability to perform the job. for eg- a candidate trying to get a job in the finance department while having a past record of fraud.

5. Sometimes, candidates produce false certificates by using scanning and photoshopping software. eg - a nurse in the UK produced a fake certificate from Cambridge University.

The reasons for misrepresenting yourself on your resumes are many. It helps in snagging a high-paying job which the candidate isn't qualified for. When having a criminal past, employers tend to be cautious and don't hire such people. in such cases, a person may choose to hide the information from a prospective employer.

Whatever the reason, the candidates should never misrepresent themselves on their CVs and the employer should take extra precautions in double checking the information provided by the prospective employees before hiring them.