English CV writing and professional presentation

RESUME

English -- the CV Writing

To what extent is it appropriate to embellish a CV? What do you think is the most important thing to consider when writing a CV?

A resume is supposed to present 'your best self' to a prospective employer. When presenting a list of employment 'highlights,' it is appropriate to use language that is complementary and also to include the most flattering aspects of that history. However, making up titles, degrees, dates of employment and duties is not only unethical -- it can be easily fact-checked and shown to be a lie. Most employers will also consider 'sins of omission' to be lies. These 'sins' include leaving out employment positions when a complete, chronological list is requested. It is not necessary to be candid about every unflattering thing that was said in a job performance review, of course, but if facts about every place where the candidate has been employed are requested, they must be provided. Also, the nature of the employment must be clearly described -- if the job was an entry-level position, the candidate cannot claim to have been in a position of leadership. A file clerk cannot state that he or she single-handedly reconfigured the filing system of the law office where or she worked.

'Embellishment' is really never appropriate, assuming that the term is really being used as a code word for lying. Using fancy words to enhance job descriptions, stressing the 'learning' component of a mundane job, or even leaving out that the internship a college student secured was mainly spent making copies rather than doing more advanced work might be considered to be in the grey area of acceptable embellishment. But any outright fabrication will almost inevitably come back to haunt a candidate, given the increased scrutiny that employers are capable of in the 'Google' era.

The most important aspect of a resume is accurately portraying one's skills and capabilities in such a manner that they seem to be a good fit with the requirements of the prospective employer. For example, if someone is applying to be a technical writer, he or she might rewrite his or her application to stress that he or she has performed this task at all of his or her places of employment. When applying to be a computer programmer, these components of all of his or her jobs might be stressed. But it is essential that the candidate actually performed this work to be considered ethical to not to be 'found out' by an employer. A prospective employer will call past supervisors to verify the candidate performed the tasks -- if not immediately before the job interview, then at very least before the candidate is formally hired. Lying about credentials is counter-productive, and can shut the job-seeker out of getting any possible position at a company -- ever -- not simply the original job for which he or she applied.