75% of HR managers have caught a lie on a resume: Survey

Resumes can make or break the chances of success, and therefore, should be well written and completely honest.

It is not easy to write a resume that stands out from the crowd and gets the interviewer’s attention.A resume being the first step for any job interview, must be well written. But today, most candidates are found to be lying in their resumes. They write more than what they have actually done in their careers. With their years of experience, it is easy for recruitersto figure out the lie in the resume or the interview.  This may hamper the prospectsof those candidates who put fake information on their resumes.

According to a survey by CareerBuilder, which covered 2500 full-timeAmerican employers across industries and company sizes, including 221 HR mangers in the private sector, it was found that three in four HR managers reported having caught a lie on a resume. Also, only 12 per cent of the HR managers are likely to consider calling a candidate who has done something unusual or outrageous, for an interview.

HR mangers screen thousands of resumes for the actual interview. The survey found that 39 per cent of the managers spend less than a minute initially looking at the resume. Surprisingly, 19 per cent of the mangers spend less than 30 seconds looking at the resume.

Rosemary Haefner, CHRO of CareerBuilder, says that “If crafted well, your resume is one of the most valuable marketing tools you have.In a matter of seconds, it can make or break your chances of moving along the hiring journey with a company. That’s why, it’s important to be proactive with your resume and avoid embellishments or mistakes. Take advantage of the tools available to you — the worst thing you can do is send a generic copy out to employers and then sit and hope for a response.”

The surveyed HR managers also gave suggestions on how to make a resume that stands out from the rest and gets maximum attention from them.

The survey found that 60 per cent of the managers are more likely to pay attention to resumes that are customized to their open positions. A cover letter is also important—38 per cent of the HR managers vouch for this. 37 per cent of the HR managers say that listing the skill sets first in the resume gets their attention. Also, 23 per cent of the managers feel that the application addressed to the specific hiring managers gets their attention. 14 per cent of the managers say that a resume that offers links to a candidate’s blog, portfolio or websites is more likely to get their attention.

As per the survey, five factors that HR managers consider while hiring one candidate over the other are: the candidate’s involvement in his/her community (35 per cent), bilinguality (34 per cent), sense of humor (25 per cent), appearance/dressing style (24 per cent) and their characteristics in common with the hirer (13 per cent).