People lie on their resumes. It's not exactly rocket science working that out. But the little lies you tell can come back to haunt you. One common trick is to take out jobs you don't want on your resume. Maybe you had a bad experience, maybe they gave you an average reference, or maybe you think it just detracts from your resume in some way. So you don't put the job on your resume, and you carefully change dates from other jobs to cover the gap. And you think you are going to get away with it. Sometimes you will. Sometimes you won't.
First, you can get caught out during the reference stage of the recruitment process. One of the standard questions a good recruiter is going to ask is to verify dates of employment. Even companies that do not give references will happily verify dates of employment.
Discrepancies with dates (especially when they are longer than a week or two) are going to raise alarm bells. But here is the thing: the chances are, over a period of time, you have sent your resume to an agency more than once. Shockingly, we review the different resumes. Disturbingly, we often see discrepancies.
Worryingly (for you), we don't like discrepancies. This week, one of our consultants returned to a candidate the three versions of his own resume he had sent in. Each resume was vastly different from each other, and a message was sent with the returned resumes to advise him that we are not prepared to represent him to any of our clients. Lie about your past and you just might risk your future.
Find the job you love I Find the right talent
Get in touch with people2people
Australia
I
United Kingdom
In business since 2002 in Australia, NZ, and the United Kingdom, people2people is an award-winning recruitment agency with people at our heart. With over 12 offices, we specialise in accounting and finance, business support, education, executive, government, HR, legal, marketing and digital, property, sales, supply chain, and technology sectors. As the proud recipients of the 2024 Outstanding Large Agency and Excellence in Candidate Care Awards, we are dedicated to helping businesses achieve success through a people-first approach.
Recent articles
Latest Media Features
Get in touch
Find out more by contacting one of our specialisat recruitment consultants across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Copyright © 2025, people2people
people2people acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country, pays respect to their Elders past and present, and extends that respect to all Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori peoples today.
people2people partners with CarbonInvoice to measure and mitigate any carbon emissions associated with the work we do.
Specialisations
Locations
Resources