The #1 resume lie that could cost you a new job

A hiring manager may spend less than a minute reviewing your resume, but there’s one thing that will most definitely cost you the job: getting caught in a lie.

According to a study conducted for CareerBuilder, 77% of human resources managers reported discovering a lie on a resume.

The very worst resume lies

Lies generally fall into one of two categories: “real lies” or “white lies.”

Hloom.com, a website that offers free resume templates, surveyed 2,000 people in the U.S. and asked them to come clean about the lies they’ve told on their resumes. 

Half of the top 10 ‘real lies’ had to do with education.

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So which resume lies are the most serious? The Hloom.com study found that lying about where you went to college took the top spot, followed closely by lying about former employment. 

The survey determined that people who lie on resumes are most often trying to better fit the job opening or want to look more experienced and well-rounded.

Here are some other key findings:

• People aged 55 to 64 are likeliest to tell both real and white lies on resumes.
• People with some high school (no diploma) are likeliest to lie: 68.4% have told white lies and 36.8% have told real lies.
• Men are almost twice as likely to tell real lies: 6.8% of men vs. 3.7% of women.

The bottom line is that you risk the embarrassment of getting caught if you lie during any part of the hiring process, including on your resume. And depending on the industry, one lie could sabotage a lot more than that one job opportunity.

Your best bet is to follow our 12 steps to create the best resume possible.

CareerBuilder’s 2017 job forecast

If you’ve been looking for a new job for a while, you should know that the hiring outlook for 2017 is the best the U.S. has seen in a decade, according to CareerBuilder’s annual job forecast.

You can expect about 40% of employers to hire full-time, permanent workers over the next year.

Of those employers planning to hire, some of the hot areas for hiring will be: information technology, customer service, production, sales and administrative.

Here are five other trends to watch for in 2017:

1. Pressure to offer higher pay: Two-thirds of employers plan to increase salaries on initial job offers, with 30% of employers increasing it by 5% or more.

2. Job seekers must emphasize soft skills: The majority of hiring managers place importance on skills associated with one’s personality, like a positive attitude.

3. You may not receive a phone call: More than 40% of employers will reach out to candidates through text messages to schedule interviews.

4. Keep up with Facebook and Twitter: Roughly 60% of employers expect employees to have social media experience.

5. No experience, no problem: More than half of employers said they will hire and train workers who don’t have experience in their field.

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