Should you lie on your resume to get an interview?

Written by: Vicki Shepard

November 30, 2022

3 min read

TLDR; Yes, but do it in a magical way..

I totally get it, times are tough and trying to get a job right now is nearly impossible unless you are the perfect candidate with all the right knowledge, skills, and abilities. Many people are still unemployed and the amount of jobs that are available are limited. Even more so for those of us that want to work from home, as specific skills required for remote work slim the available jobs down even more.

And let’s face it, many of us still don’t feel comfortable going back into the office or being around people for that matter. (As a side note, the ability to work from home is something that should have been integrated into the workforce a long time ago. IMO this WFH mentality and implementation is a ‘late-bloomer’). So the chances that you will get a job seem bleak and makes you feel like ‘why try’? But what if you put on your resume that you do have all the knowledge, skills, and abilities? Would that put you at least in the running for a job? Are there any repercussions from a white lie or blatant lie on your resume? Would the company even find out?

Even though many companies are hiring, that doesn’t make up for the fact that thousands of people can’t land a job, let alone get through a company’s ATS system. In the HR/business world, ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. I know it sounds scary, but nearly every company has a way to track all their candidates and the ‘system’ has an AI approach which eliminates candidates that it thinks are not qualified based on specific keywords listed in the resume and cover letter. On one hand, if you put those keywords in your resume, AI will let the recruiter see you applied. On the other, if the words are not there, the AI will kick you out with no questions asked. Which makes getting an interview that much harder, especially when you not only have other candidates to worry about, but now you have to first worry about your resume and application even getting to the recruiter’s eyes.

Let’s face it, unless you are a ‘Mr. or Ms. Perfect Computer Robot,’ you likely won’t have 100% of the requirements anyway. And it feels like most companies need you to have at least 150% of the requirements. That means you need not only the ones listed on the job post, but all the ones that they choose not to list too. It feels impossible, and for most companies, they will never find that person without some compromise. It’s like trying to read someone’s mind and knowing exactly what the company wants, the recruiter wants, the hiring manager wants, and the team wants. UFF, what a list. But it’s not hopeless, believe me.

So when you start to think about trying to get noticed, the first thing that comes into mind is to make sure that your resume will stand out from everyone else. I.E. adding creative bullet points on your resume that weirdly match what the company is looking for (this is the magic part). I mean, we are trying to get a job here. We have rent to pay and mouths to feed, who cares if 1 or 2 bullet points are made up so that you can just get to the point where someone calls you. But that doesn’t always work out, or does it?

Okay, let’s pretend for a moment that Lilly, a qualified candidate, is applying for a Project Manager position at a local insurance company. She sees that the job description has some very specific requirements about a specific software that the company utilizes called Breakdown Gillies (for the purposes of this example, this project management software is 100% made up). Lilly thinks, “I have 6 years of experience with different types of software, but not Breakdown Gillies. But how much different can this software be from the ones I have interacted with in the past? I can use my previous company’s software, I am sure that I can use this one too.” Lilly decides to put on her resume that she has 6 years of experience with Breakdown Gillies. Is she wrong for adding this on her resume?

Short answer: Yeah, this is not going to be good if she gets an interview.

Long answer: Not necessarily bad, but I would recommend that she revise her statement to read that she has 6 years using various project management software and include some examples of projects and which software that is most comparable to the company’s requirements and what they are looking for specifically. And possibly have a cover letter that demonstrates her use of the experience she has and how it can correlate to the company.

Here is the rub: When a company ‘requires’ a specific kind of knowledge, like this example with Breakdown Gillies, it is likely something that they can train in-house. From a company’s point of view, if they find the right candidate that fits what they are looking for, meshes well with the hiring manager, then they will likely be lenient with ‘requiring’ the experience of the Breakdown Gillies software. Especially since, in this example, Lilly has experience using other types of project management software, which means in a general sense, she can be trained to learn Breakdown Gillies.

For argument’s sake let’s continue with the story.

Lilly applied for the Project Manager position. Within 1 week she got an email to set up a phone interview with the company! AWESOME. That is what we wanted. We just want to talk with someone so we can tell them how wonderful we are and that they should hire us. Interview is set to happen in 2 days. (Let me know if you want another article on how to prepare for an interview). We get all our ducks in a row and patiently, eagerly, mind-numbingly wait for the day to come.

Now we are at the interview and after the company asks a lot of behavior questions, they start with asking about project management software Breakdown Gillies on Lilly’s resume. This is what I would call the ‘oh shit’ moment for Lilly. Well Lilly, you are in a pickle my friend.

In my mind you have 2 ways you can overcome this dilemma:

1. Keep on with the lie. However, this is not the choice I would necessarily recommend for those with very specific knowledge and skills. Sometimes there is no right way to get out of the lie, and to be as vague as you can, may lead down a very slippery path. In some cases, it is impossible to trick your way out of this one. If the company is asking about very specific knowledge and skills, it is likely that they already know you are lying and you will be immediately disqualified from the candidate pool, leaving you without a second glance and likely be flagged if you try to apply in the future. Who wants an employee that will lie without admitting that they made a mistake? If somehow you were able to get through and get an offer from the company, when your first day comes and you show that you actually have no idea how to use Breakdown Gillies, you are in some deep poop my friend. It is also entirely possible Breakdown Gillies (specific software that the company wants you to use) was developed in-house, so they already know that it is VERY unlikely Lilly knows how to use it. That’s why the better option is to:
2. Come clean. When they start to ask you about the software, tell them that you do have 6 years of experience using project management software, but after further review of the company’s requirements, you made a mistake and have not used Breakdown Gillies in the past. However, you have done some research on Breakdown Gillies and believe that you foresee no issue being able to learn this software given some basic training. Maybe you even went as far as to take some training on this software to prepare for the interview; did someone say YouTube? This tells the company that you realized you messed up, you are being honest to correct your mistake, and have even gone as far as to start to do some training on your own so that Day 1 won’t be as hard. Integrity and honesty are some of the traits they will be looking for. This is a great way to prove that you can be relied on to fix your mistakes. Because let’s be honest, we are human and we all make mistakes. It happens; and when it does, come in with a game plan and fix it.

Obviously lying on your resume doesn’t always turn out good. The goal is to get a job that works well for your background and experience. If there is an aspect that could potentially match, but doesn’t quite fit, maybe call that out in a cover letter. I know that there is a lot of debate on whether cover letters have any purpose, and believe me when I say NO ONE wants to willingly write one, but I can assure you that many companies love to read them and it gives you a better chance at a phone call than applying to a job without one. (Let me know if you want another article on tips for writing a cover letter that puts you over the edge).

So I hate to ask, but what is the wiggle room for lying on your resume? It is a really common thing for a lot of people to do. So where do we draw that line?

It is okay to align your resume with the job posting, no one said any different. But when it comes to some specific skills and knowledge that are listed as a ‘requirement’ it may be better to add in a general bullet point, versus an outright lie.

Yes, the goal is to get a job. However, if that means compromising on your integrity to get said job, do you really want to start your new working relationship based on lies? There can be so much more fallout trying to correct the lie, when maybe it is just not a good match to begin with.

What about changing your job title?

If your title is ‘Senior Engineer’ but you are performing the job duties of a manager and you have people reporting to you, then are you not a working manager? If you do the job without the title, does that make it any different? These are all great questions. And let me one to tell you that if you alter your title or job duties, there is nothing stopping the hiring company from performing a background check or even calling your current company to ask to speak with Joe Engineer Manager, not to mention your references or co-workers. I am not saying that is the most legal or ethical thing (in some states this is illegal, but that is on the recruiter to know their boundaries), but if the company is worried and wavering on their confidence in you as a candidate, then it is likely you won’t get the job anyway. Plus, who wants to work for a company that does illegal and unethical practices? Not you! We want a job that aligns with our core values, ethics, and aligns with our knowledge, skills, and abilities. And those are some giant red flags my friend.

I hope this article was interesting and helpful. What do you think about lying on a resume to get an interview? Have you ever lied on your resume? If so, what happened? Do you think that companies should be more lenient about their requirements? Let me know what you think!

Good luck with your job hunt, -LBHR