Lying On Your Resume

Why people lie on resumes

There are many reasons why lying on resumes has become such a common practice. For instance:

• Pressure to Remain Competitive: In a tough job market, applicants may spin up their resumes to make themselves look like the best choice
• Lack of Experience: Some people want to make themselves seem qualified for a job even when they don’t meet the listed requirements
• Fear of Unemployment: Applicants may worry that they’ll never get a job if they don’t find a way to make their application look better
• Dwindling Savings: A candidate may have gone too long without a job and needs to find a way to keep a roof over their head
• Covering Up Gaps: Job seekers may not want hiring managers to know that they were unemployed for any length of time

Although lying on resumes isn’t necessarily a good thing, some applicants may assume they don’t have a choice.

If you’re thinking about lying on your resume, there’s a much better way to get noticed without having to “fake it until you make it.”

What counts as lying on your resume?

Before you find out what happens if you lie on your resume, it’s important to know what can be considered a lie.

Some applicants make flat-out false statements, such as listing their job title as “manager” when they never made it past the sales associate level. When you tweak your resume and cover letter templates to include something objectively untrue, it’s known as a lie of commission. 

However, some candidates opt for lies of omission, which is when you leave out key details to avoid telling the full truth. For example, someone may claim they obtained their college education at a school they only attended for a few semesters without completing a degree program.

Examples of common resume lies

Shockingly, surveys show that approximately 75% of employers have caught at least one resume lie.(2) Here are some of the most common resume examples of lies they’ve found:

• Education: The candidate attended UCLA when you didn’t go there at all
• Previous Employment Dates: The candidate says they were employed from January to June 2025 when their employment ended the previous December
• Previous Salaries: The candidate claims to have made $75,000 per year when their salary was closer to $60,000
• Previous Job Titles: The candidate boasts of having regional sales manager experience when in fact they were a sales associate
• Language Fluency: The candidate claims to speak fluent Spanish when they really must use an electronic translator to communicate
• False Addresses: The candidate uses a friend’s home address to support the claim that they live in Miami when their primary residence is in West Virginia
• Inflated Accomplishments: The candidate says they were Teacher of the Year in their district after being recognized as Teacher of the Month at their school

Is it illegal to lie on resumes? Not always. However, these resume and cover letter examples definitely exhibit the kind of dishonesty you should stay away from.

How employers discover resume lies

Should you lie on your resume or cover letter, you’d probably cause yourself a lot of undue stress, wondering whether the hiring manager would ever find out.

Many employers can catch applicants’ lies before extending an offer. Here’s what online articles won’t tell you about how they do it.

Background checks

Depending on the circumstances, an employer may be able to access special databases to verify your employment history, current address, and even your education.

Reference calls

Hiring managers may call the companies you’ve listed on your resume to ask about your job titles, responsibilities, and accomplishments during your tenure there. 

Skills tests

If your resume says you possess a skill you don’t actually have, your incompetencies may start to show when you’re asked to prove yourself.

Inconsistencies during interviews

One of the consequences of lying on your resume is that it can get difficult to keep track of what you’ve said. If your interview answers don’t match your resume, hiring managers may start to get suspicious.

Online and LinkedIn checks

Employers want to see that your online presence is congruent with your resume. If your LinkedIn experience timeline says something different or your social media pictures show that you live in a different city, you may run into trouble.

Consequences of lying on a resume

Can you get fired for lying on resumes? It’s possible. There are several consequences that may befall those who get caught making false statements and telling half-truths.

Withdrawn offer

If you look good enough on paper, a hiring manager may make an offer before conducting a background check or contacting your references.

However, if the information they obtain from these sources doesn’t align with your resume, they’ll likely rescind it. This can be highly embarrassing and is just one example of what happens if you lie on your resume and get caught.

Damaged reputation

At the very least, if you lied to get a job and the employer eventually finds out, your reputation could be seriously damaged. You likely won’t be able to use that employer as a reference in the future, and it might be hard to get other jobs in the industry, especially if your boss is well-connected and warns their colleagues about your lies.

You could be fired

Of course, you could also be fired from your job as soon as your employer discovers that you lied. Lying on your resume does not set a good precedent for trust, and employers will likely not want a proven liar on their team. Being fired from a position can also make it difficult to get future positions.

Legal action could be taken against you

It’s technically not illegal to lie on a resume since it’s not a legal document. However, you can run into legal trouble if you falsely claim to have certain certifications or licenses that are necessary to perform a job, like if you say you have a medical degree when you don’t.

Is it illegal to lie on a resume?

While resumes aren’t legally binding documents, some lies could land you in serious legal trouble. Falsehoods that can result in such repercussions include:

• Fraud and Misrepresentation: Falsifying credentials or licenses or submitting a forged college degree can be considered fraud
• Lawsuits: Employers can sue if a lie causes financial or reputational damage (e.g, an unqualified accountant who submits false financial records)
• Criminal Charges: It’s a crime to falsify documents, knowingly provide false information, or fake credentials in fields like healthcare, education, or law

Can you get fired for lying on resumes? Yes. Is it illegal to lie on resumes? That can be something of a gray area. It’s important to understand federal and state laws and err on the side of truth when applying for any role.

What to do if you’ve submitted a resume that contains lies

If you’ve already submitted a resume that has a lie on it and you are regretting it, you have a few options for handling the situation:

Withdraw your application

This is the safest option, but it obviously only works if you have not yet been hired. You can also decline an interview or refuse the job offer if you are further along in the hiring process.

Tell the employer the truth

You can also tell the employer the truth, regardless of where you are in the hiring process or if you’ve already been hired. This is a gamble, since they might fire you anyway or decline to hire you in the first place.

Update your resume

In some cases, you can simply send in an updated resume with the lies corrected. However, this only works if you’ve lied on something that could feasibly be an accident, like your previous salary, dates of employment, etc. It won’t hold up if you’ve said you attended Harvard when you actually didn’t, or any other egregious lies.

Refocus on your next opportunity

Just because you’ve lied on your resume in a moment of desperation doesn’t mean all is lost. Use the episode as a learning experience and shift your focus to creating an honest resume that highlights your actual strengths.

If you need a hand, you can use Jobseeker’s resume builder tools to boost your resume writing skills with templates that are both aesthetic and functional.

Key takeaways

• Many applicants commit lies of both commission and omission
• It’s never a good idea to falsify details or hide the truth
• Employers could catch you in a lie
• It’s possible to face serious consequences for dishonesty, including criminal charges and loss of a job or offer

Lying on your resume is one HR trend hiring managers would advise you to leave behind. Fortunately, you can come clean at any time. Use the templates in Jobseeker’s resume builder to craft an application that paints you as the right candidate without the need to rely on untruths.

Sources:

(1) Fast Company: Who lies on resumes more often? High earners and workers with advanced degrees, it turns out

(2) CNBC: This job applicant said he was a CIA spy; he didn’t get the job