10% of tech workers say they lied to get jobs

A new survey suggests that embellishing credentials isn’t uncommon among those desperate to land plum positions. How can you spot a liar?

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Have you ever been tempted to fudge the truth on your résumé, in a job interview or on a LinkedIn profile?

Might you cite a degree you didn’t quite finish, list experience you don’t have, or spin that certificate of participation into a major award?

Of course not. Our fine Ragan readers are above that. Yet when Blind, an anonymous social network for professionals, posed the question in a survey to technology workers, 10% admitted they had embellished their résumé or profile to land a job.

Blind’s question was simple: “True or False: I have embellished or lied on my LinkedIn or résumé/CV to help land another job.”

Just 10% of the pool of 10,400 respondents blushed and said, in essence, “Um. Well. Yeah. But only a smidgeon.”

The finding may reveal lessons not only about human nature, but also about the highly competitive world of technology jobs and recruitment, with their onsite gyms and cafeteria espresso machines.

“People will risk lying to their future employer and getting caught in order to get into these tech companies,” says Blind Marketing Manager Curie Kim.

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