Years ago, around 2006/2007, a survey was done by a large national media outlet on how many people admitted to lying on their resume – this was prior to the full economic meltdown. Answer – 83% admitted lying on a resume in the past!
During a critiquing session at a career fair, I once had a woman claiming to have Associates, Bachelors and Masters Degrees – but she hadn’t even begun work on the Associates yet. I took nearly 15 minutes to explain that she was lying on her resume and I am still not sure she understood why. She kept insisting she intended to get all three degrees, and I told her I intended to exercise more and eat better each year, but that didn’t always happen. Intention is not the same as “having or doing.”
I still help organizations’ interview potential employees to this day as an outgrowth of my business as a resume writer and career coach, and yes, we (interviewers) do assume you have probably lied on your resume.