Honesty is the best policy always! Jobseekers, students, professionals all have a role when it comes to honesty. Being honest doesn't mean a confession session requiring you to bear your soul. As professionals, honesty refers to a willingness to openly share information and remain objective.
This topic was discussed in-depth on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. Recruiters, HR professionals and others chimed in about what seems to be a massive increase in resume dishonesty. Most of us agreed jobseekers should always be honest when applying for jobs. The recent economic decline means more competition than ever when it comes to the labor market. Some applicants are very creative when trying to set themselves and their resumes apart from the pack. There is a fine line between colorful descriptions and misrepresentations. Certainly, jobseekers should use verbs and descriptive adjectives in their resumes. However, misrepresenting yourself by claiming to be an industry expert or falsifying education information is just not smart. Eventually, the potential employer will discover these misreprensentations and disqualify you from further consideration.
Seasoned Professionals can incorporate honestly into their daily work routine. Honesty in this sense means being open with your opinions, insight and/or analysis. The rule here is to treat others like you want to be treated. No need to be brutal and shoot down the ideas of others. However, candid, thoughtful insight is often appreciated by senior managers, directors and business analysts. Typically, the goal is to produce comprehensive information to assist decision makers. An honest contribution can be appreciated by all. But, if you go into the situation determined to give everyone a piece of your mind, the contribution is lost and your professional credibility could suffer.
Students are often preplexed when creating resumes and/or applying for jobs, especially when they have limited work experience. It's okay if you don't have a lot of work experience. Don't embelish or over-reach when creating a resume. Review your life experiences and include items like volunteer work, community involvement, and school projects on your resume. These are all valid types of work experience and can be used to showcase your skills. Remember, employers are interested in your skills and how they will fit into the organization. Having your resume reviewed by a career counselor or professional resume writer will help identify any potential problems.
Be creative, be descriptive, but above all be honest!
Seasoned Professionals can incorporate honestly into their daily work routine. Honesty in this sense means being open with your opinions, insight and/or analysis. The rule here is to treat others like you want to be treated. No need to be brutal and shoot down the ideas of others. However, candid, thoughtful insight is often appreciated by senior managers, directors and business analysts. Typically, the goal is to produce comprehensive information to assist decision makers. An honest contribution can be appreciated by all. But, if you go into the situation determined to give everyone a piece of your mind, the contribution is lost and your professional credibility could suffer.
Students are often preplexed when creating resumes and/or applying for jobs, especially when they have limited work experience. It's okay if you don't have a lot of work experience. Don't embelish or over-reach when creating a resume. Review your life experiences and include items like volunteer work, community involvement, and school projects on your resume. These are all valid types of work experience and can be used to showcase your skills. Remember, employers are interested in your skills and how they will fit into the organization. Having your resume reviewed by a career counselor or professional resume writer will help identify any potential problems.
Be creative, be descriptive, but above all be honest!
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Anita, great post! I agree, a direct honest approach has always paid off for me!
If the employer or potential client takes a pass based on you or your services based on something you declared you weren't necessarily a good match in the first place. I have to remind myself of this, when I don't get the results I want from being too honest and direct! LOL! I am sharing right now on my social networks!
Honesty is the hardest for the person who has established a pattern of people pleasing. Honesty could be a way to diffuse a bomb before it explodes if you have been pleasing others in the past by what you put on your resume. Using words like "Mastered" will be called on to be proven. You better be ready to 'splain and prove Lucy!
So many people fall fowl of this!
A great post and an important lesson, one which the majority of people just don't abide by. If you lie you will fail!
keep up the great work and re-tweeted!