Creating an attention-getting resumé can be a tall order for job seekers in today’s fast-paced hiring environment.
The majority of American employers (70%) spend less than five minutes reviewing a resumé, and half (48%) spend less than two, finds a CareerBuilder survey.
Perhaps it’s the desire to stand out that compels some job seekers to include some unnecessary, inappropriate or downright untrue information on their resumés, which hiring managers regard as a job seeker faux pas.
Read: The 10 most unusual interview mishaps
Hiring managers gave the following real-life examples of blunders they have caught on resumés:
- applicant claimed to be a former CEO of the company to which they were applying;
- applicant claimed to be fluent in two languages—one of which was pig Latin;
- applicant wrote “whorehouse” instead of “warehouse” when listing work history;
- applicant’s personal website linked to a porn site;
- applicant introduced himself [in the cover letter] by saying “Hey you”;
- applicant vying for a customer service position gave “didn’t like dealing with angry customers” as the reason for leaving her last job;
- user name of applicant’s email address was “2poopy4mypants”;
- applicant claimed to be a Nobel Prize winner;
- applicant claimed to have worked in a jail when they were really in there serving time;
- applicant who claimed to be HVAC certified later asked the hiring manager what “HVAC” meant;
- applicant said to have gotten fired “on accident”;
- applicant claimed to have attended a college that didn’t exist;
- applicant for a driver position claimed to have 10 years of experience but had only had a driver’s license for four years;
- applicant listed as a reference an employer from whom they had embezzled money and had an arrest warrant out for the applicant; and
- applicant’s stated job history had him in three different companies and three different cities simultaneously.
Read: Top 5 job interview deal breakers
When it comes to impressing hiring managers, one of the biggest mistakes a job seeker can make is lying, which is more common than one might think.
More than half of employers (56%) have caught a lie on a resumé. When asked to name the most common areas around which job seekers lie, these employers named the following: embellished skill sets (62%); embellished responsibilities (54%); dates of employment (39%); job titles (31%); and academic degrees (28%).
Read: 10 things found on social media that eliminated job candidates
“Job seekers have the unenviable challenge of grabbing—and holding—a hiring manager’s attention long enough to make a strong impression,” says Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “Embellishing your resumé to achieve this, however, can ultimately backfire.”
More than 2,000 full-time, U.S. hiring and human resources managers across industries and company sizes participated in the survey.
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