Executive Career Suite Weblog

IF THE TRUTH HURTS. . . .

Well, another CEO has outed himself and admitted that he lied on his resume. The Radio Shack executive said he "believes" he earned his theology degree but is as yet unable to document it. Give me a break! I don't know anyone who has earned a bachelors degree or higher and doesn't know it!

In this world of electronic everything it's very easy to check credentials. So why try to get by with a lie on your resume? What was he thinking?

If the truth hurts, go out and do something about it--like finish your degree!

Seriously, I have had several clients ask me to "embellish" their resume to make it sound good. One client in particular, kept after me to add a certain degree to his education section "because it sounds good and once I get the interview, I can wow them enough that the lie won't matter!"

Some people believe that they can lie on their resume and then state the truth on their employment application--they feel that nobody reads the applications. The application is a legal document that requires a signature. What they don't consider is that the resumes become part of the employees official file. You might think you are within legal limits by leaving the lie off of the application, but what about ethics, integrity, trust....

Learn from the CEO - don't take a chance with a lie on your resume.

Being Prepared

I've been working with a few of my favorite clients lately, the ones who contact me about every 12 months or so to update their resume. They aren't my favorite because they pay me once a year. I love them because they are taking care of themselves. They are always "prepared."

If someone asked you today for your resume, could you send it right away? One client in particular has been promoted from a basic sales position to National Sales Director in just two and half years! Part of his success is that he is ready with his resume when an opportunity comes along.

I have had clients come to me after working with a company for 15 years -- and they haven't updated their resume in that same amount of time. Of course, they're always in a hurry--gotta have it tomorrow. They have to scramble to find the right information, and some of it can't be found. Plus, many people don't remember what they had for breakfast let alone what accomplishments they had on the job a few years back.

Besides being prepared for possibilities, here are some other benefits to an updated resume:

• A current record of your accomplishments
• Self esteem builder to see what you've done
• Use it to ask for a raise
• Great tool for preparing for your performance appraisal

As for my "prepared" clients, they'll reap another reward. When it comes time to do a total resume upgrade, the investment will be much smaller since so much of the information is already there!

For more information about resume upgrades click here