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Chapter 3 ➤ Winning Resume Wisdom

Lying on your resume can cause more damage to your career than you may realize. Here are
two good reasons to create a resume that contains only the truth:

➤ A lie on your resume can undermine your self-confidence during a job interview. If
you’re anything like me, just knowing that the interviewer might ask a question about
your fib will make you nervous. To make matters worse, noticeable anxiety will most
likely make a bad impression on your potential employer.
➤ After you’re hired, a falsehood on your resume can be grounds for termination. If your
resume is examined as part of your promotion review, you could lose your job if some-
one discovers a lie.
➤ A lie on your resume may indicate that you don’t believe you’re qualified for the job.
Maybe you need to rethink your job objective or perhaps you need counseling to
build your self-esteem.

As you can see, it’s in your short- and long-term interest not to lie on your resume.

The Least You Need to Know
➤ Write about your future on your resume, not about your past.
➤ You don’t have to tell everything in your resume. Stick to what’s relevant and mar-
ketable.
➤ Use your resume to talk about your achievements, not monotonous job descriptions.

➤ Don’t write about anything that you don’t want to do again.
➤ Grab the reader’s attention by being concise and using bullet-point statements.

➤ Be creative but honest in your resume.

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