Workplace Best & Worst: The Worst Resume Lies

Nov. 10, 2004 — -- Last time we asked about lies you've seen, or written, on a résumé. Below are our favorite responses.

"A clean-cut young man came into our office, inquiring about possible job openings. He greeted me with a strong handshake and a résumé. I noted he had been a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and I said a hearty 'Semper Fi!' As he was leaving the office he said to one of my employees, 'That guy doesn't need to speak Latin to impress people.' "

"After being fired, I decided to goof off for a month, which eventually turned out to be two years. I couldn't put down what I had really been doing, so I came up with the following: 1989-1991: Occupation: Deadhead. Job responsibilities: bead making, exotic hair-braiding, placing fliers on windshields, hitchhiking, running and walking to Grateful Dead concerts across America. Aside from this brief description, the rest of my résumé was completely corporate, I'd worked in accounting for seven years. Within a few days I had 11 job offers based solely on this lie."

And our favorite from Mary S. in Los Angeles:

"We noted on one résumé that the sum of the number of years of experience at different jobs was greater than the age of the applicant."

Taking your pulse: How honest is your résumé?

We'll be back next time to talk about the best pranks pulled at work.

Workplace Best & Worst is a new Wednesday feature at ABCnews.com. Each week we'll ask a question -- What is the worst workplace prank, what is the best advice, who was your worst boss, etc. And then in week two we'll run the best responses.

Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, award winning journalist, popular speaker and a guy who is willing to go under oath over the contents of his résumé. You can e-mail Bob at bob@workingwounded.com.