What no one tells you about resume writing | Ladders

Presumption of innocence may be a pillar of U.S. law, but don’t assume your resume will get the same treatment. You could be the most honest person on the planet. It won’t matter. Chances are recruiters and hiring managers will assume there are probably at least one or two little white lies on your resume, or at the very least, embellishments.

While that may sound harsh, the reality is that survey after survey tells us that most resumes do in fact lie. The statistic varies a bit, but the trend remains the same: a sizable portion of Americans have no problem blurring the lines between fact and fiction if it means nabbing a better job and higher salary. In many cases what starts out as a fairly harmless exaggeration on a resume can snowball into flatout deception during the interview process.

So, as you sit down to write yourself a new resume, where does that leave you? Should you follow suit with so many others and take a more flexible approach to the truth? On the contrary, it’s never been a better time to maintain honesty first and foremost. If not for your conscience, for your career. 

Companies and HR departments will absolutely fact check the resumes of candidates deep in the recruitment process, usually via a combination of traditional methods like checking references and more behavioral strategies like skills tests and probing questions during interviews.

Ironically, if you’ve lied on your resume, you would actually be much better off getting caught during the interviewing stage. In that case, you just won’t get the job. If you’re actually hired and then found out to have been lying, legal ramifications could follow. And that’s not even mentioning the irreparable damage inflicted on your reputation.

Specificity leads to success

Now that it’s clear why lying is a fool’s errand, you may be wondering how best to construct a truthful but still compelling resume that will help you stand out from other, more deceptive co-applicants. The answer to that important question comes in two parts; authenticity and specificity. 

While many resumes nowadays come across as broad and impersonal, yours should emphasize the specific story of your career thus far in a genuine manner. There’s only one you, which means your resume should be one of a kind. Ask yourself, what have you personally accomplished or achieved that no one else can lay claim to? The devil is in the details, as they say, and there’s no room for ambiguity while writing a winning resume. Do your best to avoid general overarching statements, and don’t be afraid to get as specific as possible. 

Your skill set isn’t a grocery list

Certain skills are going to be a great fit on virtually every resume. Characteristics like leadership, decision making under pressure, and adaptability are highly sought after across countless fields and positions, but there has to be more to your resume than just a supposed skill set that reads like a grocery list written by a robot. 

It’s easy for applicants to say, or simply assert without providing any further context, that they’re well versed in management or marketing or sales or anything else, and as we touched on earlier, many end up doing just that. Your resume, on the other hand, should actively show readers how you’ve applied your expertise thus far to produce results.

Each and every skill listed on your resume should be backed up or validated by verifiable accomplishments and distinctions described in greater detail within the work experience section. If you list “problem solving” as a skill, recount an actual problem or two you tackled and successfully solved at your current or a prior position. 

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