CV fibs (and how to avoid them)

We’re all guilty about telling the odd white lie, but CV fibs are an area where even the smallest of lies can end up in total disaster.

Sure, you might think that it’s a way of getting your foot in the door, but take it from someone that’s been working in the recruitment industry for decades, CV fibs won’t do you any favours in the long run.

I could give you a 101 examples of why over elaborating on your CV will come back to haunt you at some point in your career, but instead I’m going to talk about how to avoid CV fibs pitfalls so even if you are a tiny bit tempted to add something that perhaps isn’t 100% accurate, there’s always another option.

CV Fib 1: Experience
So you think you can do the job, but you can’t actually back this up with any real experience. But that’s ok, a lot of experience is transferrable from one role to the next.

Say you’re looking at a call centre role, you may not have worked in this type of environment before but may have carried out face to face customer service in another job. That’s transferrable so use it to your advantage and instead of lying talk more about how well you worked with customers to enhance their experience with that company.

CV Fib 2: Qualifications
You might think that employers won’t want to see proof of your qualifications, but many do so if you don’t have the right paperwork it’s better to come clean.

Discuss your ambitions to gain the necessary qualifications as part of your career development whilst in a role and highlight your commitment to growing your knowledge base instead.

CV Fib 3: Skills
You might be able to talk the talk, but when the employer finds out you’re unable to walk the walk you’ll be back to square one. If you don’t have the skills the employer is looking for, then take CV Fib 1 into account as the same applies to skills.

Its also a good idea to discuss your willingness to learn new things and how you want to expand your current skills mix, rather than fabricate a long list of attributes.

For more professional help and advice on how to avoid CV fibs and add that star quality to your CV, visit our free CV Surgery and make your telephone appointment today. Click here to find out more.