If You Lie On Your Resume, You Are Likely To Get Caught

Whether it’s to hide certain elements of their background, or, to make themselves look like stronger candidates, people often succumb to the temptation of lying on their resumes.

What harm can one small-little-white lie cause, right?

With more companies conducting background checks and with the vast amount of information available on the internet, it’s quite easy to get caught nowadays.

So don’t lie, or make even the smallest mis-representation about your background, on your resume, during job interviews, or any other work related matter.

The latest case in point is the resignation of Scott Thompson, CEO of Yahoo.

• Mr. Thompson was appointed as the CEO of Yahoo in January 2012.
• A recent regulatory filing contained his biography, which stated that he had a bachelor’s degree in computer science and accounting.
• Shortly after the filing was submitted, the investment firm Third Point (which has over $ 1 billion invested in Yahoo) notified Yahoo’s board of an error in Thompson’s biography. They claimed that he did not have a degree in computer science.
• Mr. Thompson’s alma mater, Stonehill College, later confirmed that he earned an accounting degree but not a computer science degree.
• For many years the error in Mr. Thompson’s academic record had been included on the websites of other companies with which he was affiliated, including PayPal, where he worked before Yahoo. However, prior regulatory filings by eBay and companies whose boards included Mr. Thompson correctly listed only his accounting degree.
• By way of an explanation, Mr. Thompson mentioned that he was not aware of the error and that it was a mistake on the part of the executive search firm, Heidrick & Struggles, who had prepared his biography when recommending him for a job at Paypal.
• Heidrick & Struggles denied the allegations and provided proof in the form of emails from Mr. Thompson that contained the inaccurate biography.