Dive Brief:

• Thirty-six percent of Americans in a new ResumeLab survey admitted to lying on their resumes. Most who were dishonest said they did so because they lacked experience or long-term employment. Of the 31% who were caught lying on their resumes, 65% were either not hired or fired.  
• Besides experience, the most common lies were related to skills and job duties. When asked whether they knew people who lied on their resumes, 93% of respondents said yes.
• In other results, men were found to lie more often than women. Those age 18 to 39 admitted to lying more often than older individuals. And career-wise, business and retail professionals were apt to lie on their resumes more than other professionals.

Dive Insight:

Up and coming recruitment technology may encourage some applicants to embellish their resumes. According to a TribePad study of U.K.-based employees and job seekers, 88% of the more than 1 in 5 job applicants who understand applicant tracking systems (ATS) lie about their skills, experience, academic degrees, certification and other credentials on resumes to avoid being screened out.

With applicants being more savvy about the use of technology in hiring and many lying on resumes as a result, checking references may be more important than ever. An Accountemps survey found that managers reject a third of candidates after running reference checks. Checking into applicants' backgrounds and following up on references may require energy and time, but the investment can be less time-consuming and costly than replacing a bad hire, experts say.

With resume lies as a reality, experts advise employers to update job descriptions using key words that pinpoint requirements and focus on what makes a great candidate, and make skills-testing part of the recruiting process to uncover applicants' real proficiencies.