Misrepresenting the Facts on Your Resume

I'm going to start blogging more about business, startups, etc now that I'm advising a number of companies. This blog will evolve into a more personal blog, and the business blogging will be over at http://www.charliecrystle.com, which is a work in progress and needs some correction.

Today's topic is something that just came up. I've reviewed hundreds of resumes. When you read through a resume, you can get a sense for whether the person is authentic, or inflating their history. Great resumes are specific, concise, and verifiable with a few calls to former employers. I'm no hiring expert, but a great resume is only great when matched by the person it purportedly represents.

Have you ever lost your job or a job opportunity because you lied on your resume? Could you?

I'm regularly amazed by the number of people I've worked with in the past whose resumes and profiles overstate their contributions, titles, roles, and timelines. Especially in this job market.

While your professional reputation is made up of performance, past history, experience, and skills, it's assumed that your presentation of those facts is factual. Everyone wants to look their best, but sadly some are willing to put on others' clothes to do so--and put themselves and their families at significant risk in doing so.

Strategic ommissions are expected; nobody expects you to list your shortcomings or failures. I reveal my own shortcomings, though, because I want people to know what I've been through, and to know what my strengths and weaknesses are so we know it's a good fit. It's relevant, especially as a CEO.

I mention a few of them in the cover letter, and volunteer more info in phone calls or meetings as it's relevant. Why? Because I don't want an uncomfortable job situtation, don't want to get stuck with managing operations, and don't want them to think I'm someone else. And I don't want to get fired for lying.

Strategic omissions are different from factual misrepresentations, and ok as long as you aren't covering up something your employer or investors should know, though sometimes that's tough to distinguish--it depends on the investor. I'm an open book, because it's the right thing to do and it's a hell of a lot easier than keeping track of what I've said to whom.

Further it shows candor and a willingness to learn--great qualities a lot of companies value, though not all. I've attempted to make my representations factual, and my ommissions are hopefully the result of keeping the story compact enough to keep the resume or profile from running on (as I do sometimes).

I'm no angel--I make my share of mistakes, but I own up to them.

Last fall I told an employee the funding was coming through, I just had to negotiate the terms. And then the terms were ridiculous so we passed on the funding and laid people off. So that was a lie--I represented something I believed would happen as fact (but didn't know it would happen) so she'd stop worrying. And it was stupid and not what I meant anyway, but I left it out there. The list of things I'd do differently last year is long and detailed...fodder for the book.

I spent a bit of time on LinkedIn yesterday, and I was disappointed to see a range of people I've worked with presenting facts that aren't merely in error--they are deliberately false. Two former CEOs I know had extended their timelines--one by 3 months, and another by 11 months. The latter has built a significant career dependent on reputation and doesn't even need to overstate, but there it is.

So I kept looking around.

There were others as well, by people I respect...but given the deliberate misrepresentations--well that's difficult to deal with and it's beyond disappointing. I almost feel I have an ethical duty to let their employers know; if I were their employer, I'd wonder what else they're lying about. In fact, it makes me wonder what else they lied about when they worked for me.

The point is this: be authentic. Show what you've accomplished, not what you would have liked to have accomplished. Dates are facts; so are titles. It's just not that hard for an employer or VC to do the basic fact checking and discover the misrepresentation, and then call into question your professional integrity, and whatever follows.

And that would be a shame.