Not long ago I told you to steal to become successful. Today I will tell you why you should lie on your résumé. Yes I am crazy especially right after the Scott Thompson’s scandal.
Tell me something is impossible, I will make it possible.
Our world is changing everyday and we don’t always know everything. A lot of the time you just don’t have the right qualifications for a job. I don’t like to take no for an answer. I think lying about skills on resume is acceptable ( of course in a cammilicious world there are always a few conditions). It is so easy to learn something nowadays. If a job requires basic HTML, put it on your résumé and head to Code Academy and learn it. If they ask for basic Photoshop skills, just read some tutorials, or watch a few YouTube videos and play with the program. It will take you a few days to master the basics but just playing you’ll learn the ins and outs of it. If you need any skill, Google is your best friend/teacher.Why would you waste an opportunity if you can learn something within a few days. My father signed many PR contracts before he even started a PR firm. Of course, you can’t tell people that you know 7 languages and don’t bother to study them. There is a big difference between a little lie and a big one. If you put it in your résumé, you should be able to do it.
Life is changing everyday. No matter what you do,you are not going to know everything. You need to be able to learn along the way. It is not acceptable to say you know something and don’t bother learning it, because it will hurt you at some point in the future. But it is okay to have a small lie as long as you can deliver it. Believe me, adaptability is a is one of the top skills that employers are looking for.
photo credit: scottkellum
AlexConde
@cammipham The link 404′d on me. You’ve got me with the title though so I’ll poke around.
cammipham
@AlexConde http://t.co/BpEfuvb7 should work now thanks
AlexConde
@cammipham Works perfectly now. I like the post. It might sound controversial, but it’s quite true in this day and age.
cammipham
@AlexConde especially in social media, you have to learn how to manage a new social network over night
AlexConde
@cammipham Exactly – and if you have a good framework of transferable skills, you’ll be set.
lomaymi
@cammipham I’m getting a 404 page from this link.
cammipham
@lomaymi i will check it now
cammipham
@lomaymi should work now http://t.co/BpEfuvb7 i changed the time and messed it up
solsonIII
@cammipham You should not need to lie on your resume you either have what it takes or you do not.
cammipham
@solsonIII did you read my post at all…the point is you dont know everything.
solsonIII
@cammipham @solsonIII Yes no one know everything but to say you know something you do not will only lead to problems if you are hired.
cammipham
@solsonIII did you read my post at all?
cammipham
@solsonIII there shouldnt be problem if you actually learn it. If there is a new social network tmr. should i tell my client i cant do it
cammipham
@solsonIII i go out and learn how to manage it. the world is changing so much nobody can know everything. if you dont know it, learn it
solsonIII
Yes, I read the post. I prefer not to lie about a skill that is needed for the job because the employee may need me to accomplish something that I can not do without the skill. If the skill required is similar to something I know then I would explain that I understand what is needed and it would be fairly easy for me to incorporate it in to my skill set. I just do not think it is fair to the employee for me to spend my time bumbling an assignment because I do not know how to do it.
cammipham
@solsonIII then you should read again. you totally miss my point. Of course you better delivery it. My point is if you are able to gain a skill in a short period of time, there is no reason to waste an opportunity. I told people don’t tell people that you know chinese if you don’t even know a word…..I am talking about simple skill that you can learn in 2 hours…like coding, it is so easy to learn basic coding nowadays. There is a big different between someone who “lies” and you. The guy who “lies” actually goes out and gains a new skill. Yours is just a promise. There is a real action in the first one, and a little lie does hurt. He has more skills than you when he starts ( assume you guy have the same set of skills when you apply) and he can do it right away and don’t need to waste time to learn it later like you. If i am an employer, most likely i would chose the other guy over you
cammipham
@solsonIII then you should read again. you totally miss my point. Of course you better delivery it. My point is if you are able to gain a skill in a short period of time, there is no reason to waste an opportunity. I told people don’t tell people that you know chinese if you don’t even know a word…..I am talking about simple skill that you can learn in 2 hours…like coding, it is so easy to learn basic coding nowadays. There is a big difference between someone who “lies” and you. The guy who “lies” actually goes out and gains a new skill. Yours is just a promise. There is a real action in the first one, and a little lie doesnt hurt. He has more skills than you when he starts ( assume you guy have the same set of skills when you apply) and he can do it right away and don’t need to waste time to learn it later like you. If i am an employer, most likely i would chose the other guy over you
solsonIII
As an example. I code in PHP, MYSQL, HTML, CSS but I do not know JavaScript. I could learn JavaScript but I would not want to go into a job where I would have to turn out something on my first day and have to spend most of the day researching how to do a loop in JavaScript and be the one who is holding up the project. That would not be fair to the employee your just wasting their money. I would not take a job that needed C# because I know it would take me some time to learn it. One of the things I value is my honesty and I would not want to sell that for a job above all else it is important that the people I know and work with know that can trust me and that they know I can do what I say I can do.
cammipham
@solsonIII that is the case when you don’t want something bad enough. if you really want it you will learn and master it for the job. For example at the end of 2011, pinterest became popular. Most community manager doesn’t have pinterest experience and had not managed it. And brands all want ppl w pinterest experience. Should a CM learn pinterest or be honest like you suggest and don’t get any client? most community manager expect to wake up tomorrow and there is a new social network. It does not matter if you can get the work done
solsonIII
Then it is a matter of the required skill set learning how to use pinterest is not as hard as learning a new programing language. Now ask yourself if you had to hire someone would want someone you could trust, someone who can accept responsibility or do you want someone who will not be straight with you or your clients.
cammipham
@solsonIII you should read again. I made it very clear that it doesn’t work if you cannot delivery it at all. Did i tell people to list a skill that would take them 10 years to master….if you actually read my post, you would know i said it is a bad idea. it has to be manageable. I hire people who can do the job. Who say I cannot trust the person?….I need people who can think strategically and get the best result. Deception is everywhere in the business world. If you can’t deceive how are you going to sell a product?
solsonIII
It is possible to sell without deception, embellishment yes but deceptive advertisement kills repeat customers. And I did read your post. I would think if you did discover that someone you hired lied on their resume then they have lied to you and how can you trust someone who has lied to you. The hard thing for most employer is being able to recognize the potential in a candidate and being able to ascertain that based on what they show on the resume and how they interview that they would be able to handle the assignments.
cammipham
@solsonIII if you notice i didn’t bother to ask for resume. i believe resume are overated. I give people small assignment, if they can finish it in a creative way they will get the job. It does not matter how many years of experiences or what degree you have. i only care if you can get the job done.
If someone can learn something in a short time, I would admire that person. Unless you really want the job you wouldnt do it. Skills are cheap. They can learn it, the right person with passion are priceless. It is hard to find a good one
The marketing industry is all about deception. If you want to be honest, don’t be in this industry. Most of brands are not first class businesses.
solsonIII
@cammipham I wish you had interviewed me when I was out looking for work for two years. Seeing potential is a gift.
qanquinette
I agree about fibbing a bit on your resume. IF you can do the job, then show you can do the job not talk about if you can do the job. In the business world, there is no truth and lies. It’s blurred. You can still have values and morals but you still have to do what you have to do to eat and support your family and business. For example, I’m starting my own business in advertising. Do I know anything about Advertising? Only basics that I picked up a long the way. But I’m hungry enough to learn because it’s something I want to do. And if it’s my passion I’ll excel at it no matter what. Because you can learn as you go and can still help people.
cammipham
@elliotmyhre lol for marketing i only need to be able understand the super basic :D i can within 2 hr
Guyhwbwe4j
@cammipham http://t.co/IFOh9eeB
cammipham
@BeingSridhar thanks for sharing
BeingSridhar
@cammipham u r welcome, always a pleasure :)
cammipham
@sulemaan lol thanks for sharing
SheiWahTan
iI dont think it’s really “lying” but just thinking and acting out of the box. ;) It’s called working and thinking smart.
rn resume sample
In my opinion your resume should not be fake and if you want to lie then the points should be such that it comes into your strength not weaknesses. You should act smartly.
RekishinoTabi
@remino Unbelievable. The chorus from an old Billy Joel song just came to mind after reading that blog post. Honesty is such a lonely word.
remino
@RekishinoTabi Never heard that line, but I can’t agree more. People want the truth but never want to hear it.
JuliaRosien
@cammipham Did I see you at the #cashmere event yesterday, my dear? Caught a glimpse in passing but the crowd was too big to cut thru!
cammipham
@JuliaRosien there were a lot of people how are you
iWishforapp
This is a difficult one because so many people still ask for it but it is not a very good indication of the abilities of a person for exactly this reason; people embellish because they want the job. That’s why a resume should only be a small part of the process. I agree with one of the posters that if it was found out that you don’t have the skills or abilities on the resume that you were hired for, then you get into a very difficult trust issue. I also agree with @cammipham, in that maybe resumes need to be replaced by small tasks or projects that give a better indication of the abilities, flexibility and adaptability of the prospective employee. It’s perhaps a slower process but more useful in the end. That’s what we are doing with our new developer. We’ve given him a small task and set some expectations to see how he does.
mktribhuvan
@arkarthick @cammipham Silence is better than lies.
wesley koelewijn
Well for sure that there are a lot of people that lie in they’re resume,I had to lie cause if i didn’t i wouldn’t have a job right now. In hard times you have to make some hard dissensions and one of them is lying in your resume.
ForHerByHer
As someone who reviews resumes and interviews people for a living, I have to say that lying on your resume is a sure way to start off on the wrong foot. I’ve interviewed people who have flat out lied on their resumes and it’s a waste for the interviewer and the candidate.
However, I don’t believe that if they’ve requested basic skills and you’re learning those skills, that it would be considered lying. If you’re able to learn basics in a very short period of time, that’s great. If you’re calling yourself an expert when you only have basic skills however, that’s a flat out lie and one that will eventually be discovered.
I like the message behind what you’re saying – make yourself more marketable by continuously upgrading your skills and being flexible enough to learn… at least that’s what I got from it and love that! :)
nhonpt
It depends on what kind of job you want to apply. If you apply for jobs required high skills/ experiences, interviewers will ask you hands-on cases/ questions. To answer these questions, you need to work on them already. And interviewers will have their own way to discover your real abilities for listed skills. Be careful with your lies :-)
canvirries03
nice post..following now!
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