By SARA KENNEDY skennedy@bradenton.com
MANATEE
A few years ago, a local company hired Bob Beck to find someone to fill a high-level financial position with a six-figure salary.
Beck, president-owner of the Lakewood Ranch firm Staffing Professionals, Inc., interviewed a number of applicants and finally settled on one top candidate. The man's résumé said he was a certified public accountant with a master's degree in business administration and indicated he was still working for his current employer.
Beck thought he had found a winner and began making final checks when he discovered serious inaccuracies in the résumé.
"We found out, although the person had passed the CPA exam, the person had never applied for or been accepted for an MBA," remembered Beck.
Another serious misrepresentation: The candidate had left his current firm eight months before.
"The job went to the next candidate in line," Beck said.
His experience, apparently, is not an aberration.
A study done in 2006 found 42.7 percent of résumés reviewed contained one or more significant inaccuracies, said J. Michael Worthington Jr., co-founder of the Web site, resume doctor. com, which specializes in job recruitment and résumés. He said 12.6 percent of the résumés contained two or more inaccuracies.
The Web site's research staff checked 1,133 résumés and found 26 percent had an inaccurate job title, 24 percent had wrong information about the candidate's education, and 13.7 percent had dates of employment that were incorrect.
"I think some job seekers feel that, in order to be competitive, they need to exaggerate their background," said Worthington. "It's kind of like that Olympic athlete who feels pressure to use performance-enhancing drugs just to stay in the race."
He recommends job seekers be totally honest in all aspects of their résumés. Gaps in your employment history? Give it to the employer straight, said Worthington, who spent years as a recruiter.
If you don't have the exact title you think would look best on the résumé, you can't say that you do, although you can describe what type of work you perform so the interviewer can tell if you're doing more than your real title suggests, he said.
"Sometimes, you have to translate vague titles to something more universal so people can understand," he said. For instance, if you're an attorney who specializes in bankruptcy, you can list "bankruptcy attorney" on your resume. However, don't claim to be a bankruptcy attorney if you specialize in real estate, he said.
Toni Ripo, coordinator of career services for the University of South Florida-Sarasota Manatee campus, advises against any exaggerations, misrepresentations or vagueness on résumés.
"It's a big no-no; you're better off being very clear and straight," said Ripo, who helps students apply for and land jobs. "Clear and accurate information is going to be the best way to go."
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