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Job seekers are eager to impress and you’re eager to hire. This can be a recipe for misinformation to slip through the cracks, leading you to hire candidate who might not be what they seem. Some resumes can contain outright lies like job titles or companies worked for, while others will include omissions or smaller embellished details. The bottom line is that if someone is going to lie on their resume, it’s probably not someone you want to invite on your team.

Here are some easy ways to spot lies on a resume and help weed out these applicants before they get too far in the process.  

  1. Run common sense checks: Does the information make sense? Is someone who graduated from a university five years ago putting director-level positions on their resume? If something doesn’t make sense based on your hiring experience, it’s always best to inquire further. Ultimately, if you suspect some of the information might not be true, you can always ask the candidate to speak more to it and decide if you think the story makes sense. You can do this without offending the candidate by asking, “Tell me more about XYZ.” It might be that they have an exceptional or unlikely job history that would be a huge asset for your business. 
  2. Listen: If you’re conducting phone screenings, make sure that what the candidate is telling you over the phone and during the conversation aligns with what their resume is communicating. If their resume says they graduated with a 3.9 GPA, but they share a story about how they learned resilience after failing out of a class, you might want to ask for clarity. 

  3. Always check references: If your candidate has made it far enough in the process, checking references is always a good idea. This helps you verify employment and salary history and allows you to ensure you’re making the right candidate choice for your business.  

Hiring can be a difficult process, but we can help. There are a lot of small but significant things to consider when screening candidates, and our longstanding experience and extensive history with staffing and candidate placement can help your business find the best talent for your open positions. Give our team a call today to get started with your search.  

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