Scott Thompson's CV lies: It's really not that easy

Yahoo’s CEO Scott Thompson was caught lying in his official bio . He’s sorry for allowing an inaccuracy about his education to appear in his official bio, he says, but has not resigned.

How common is the incidence of untruths in resumes and CVs in India? More often than one thought.

Vikram Sakhuja, chief executive officer - South Asia, GroupM, might have sacked the Yahoo chief. “I am quite tolerant with exaggeration in the CV. If a fact is blatantly falsified (eg College degree, position held) and the person is caught out, then of course, on grounds of integrity the person is not taken,” he says.

He hasn’t unearthed a Scott Thompson, though. “Personally I haven’t come across blatant lies in CVs, though I have frequently encountered exaggeration of truth, but then I rely on two principles of interviewing to catch them out. The first is, the past will be the predictor of future, and the second is to use the Context-Action-Result framework.

I find the latter particularly useful. Candidates who believe they have solved world hunger, typically present the context bombastically, but flounder when it comes to their role (action) in addressing the issue, and typically come out with sweeping results unconnected with their action,” he says.

Priya Chetty Rajagopal, partner, and member, Business Excellence Committee at recruitment consulting firm Stanton Chase, would find Thompson’s fudging of the CV a rare aberration. “Since we deal at top levels or CXO mandates, there is a different approach to these senior leaders. The assumption is not to nitpick their CVs but to understand their role, achievements, relevance and leadership potential. Some things that are mentioned are assumed to be true and we work on that foundation.”

Does she come across many lies in the CVs that she assesses? “Sometimes or rarely. I have to say it’s difficult to judge unless you meet and crosscheck,” she says. She does come across a few, though. Candidates lie about “why they quit an assignment, and also some of the credentials or successes they have taken full credit for,” Chetty-Rajagopal says.

Nita Joshi, director of K&J Search Consultants, thinks that fibbing is getting difficult. “Due to social networking this is getting very difficult to do, it is very easy to find a connection due to these various platforms today.”

The most common reasons for lying, she finds, are to “hide certain short stints to show stability and embellish actual deliverables. She says inflation of skill sets, and on a few occasions, educational qualifications is also seen. She concurs with Chetty-Rajagopal when she says that “reasons for leaving their assignments” is an area that candidates lie about.

Anju Kurien, SVP, head Human Resource, OmnicomMediaGroup, seems to understand why candidates lie. She outlines the reasons:

• CV’s are a reflection of oneself. So while writing CV’s they are unable to do so objectively. The line between what they are and what they think they should be for the job blurs…and lies are written.

• CV’s are a first level of interaction with the company and individuals want to look the best even at the cost of putting in a few lies. They want to reach the next level of selection i.e. the interview stage. (Reminds me of matrimonial ads).

• Serious misrepresentation of facts happens with non-performers. They see performers and list out their achievements as their own.

Will the liars get away with it? Not so, she feels. “We have the rise of a parallel industry for reference checks or back ground check.”

Kurien’s views on the nature of the common lies is consistent with the views of the others commenting in this story. “I would categorise the lies in two buckets. The first one is discrepancies with age, education qualifications, gaps between jobs, asked to leave a job. These are easy to spot and deal with. The second group of lies are a little more difficult to spot and need a seasoned interviewer to spot. These are lies on the job done or the credit they attribute to themselves,” she says.

That gives you an idea of what not to do when you lie in your CV. The chances are - you will get caught. Unlike Thompson, you might even lose your job.