Don’t Lie on Your Résumé! There’s Opportunity in Packaging the Truth

The age-old, as it were, adage is that those over 40 can’t get hired.  Age discrimination laws aside, the call-backs don’t come for the 49-year-old with a stalled career.  My students resort to the Albert Carr philosophy on ethics:  lying is something we all do when it helps us and the world has dealt us an unfair hand. So, they argue, we must lie on our résumés to get in the door. But, the Wall Street Journal drew on one woman’s experience and some experts to offer some ideas on how we package ourselves that amount to nothing more than following mom’s advice of putting your best foot forward.  And they seem to work.Turns out that it ain’t the wrinkles and gray hair that we are trying to hide that employers are worried about.  They just want employees who are tuned into the culture, the trends, and the attitudes.  Those in their fifties bring the depth of experience, that much employers know.  What their résumés need to show is that experience does not necessarily make them stale. Some ideas for modernization?

1.  Drop the awards from college.  They just need to know that you have degree(s).

2.  Focus on the work experience that is important for a specific employer — in other words, tailor the work experience to highlight your experience in what they need. Call it a “Career Summary” or “Professional Experience” or use your own titles to organize your background. With these types of titles you make it clear that not everything you have done is listed, but there is no misrepresentation.

3.  Some search firms recommend a picture (no air-brushing allowed) with a pose and attire that would be a natural fit for whatever the organization.   

The  Wall Street Journal found that these tips made a big difference in number of calls for the applicant as well as in offers.  Funny how we assume we have to cross ethical lines when we hit a roadblock.  The answer seems to lie in what is at the heart of ethical marketing:  sell what you have; present it in the best possible light; and don’t compromise trust with misrepresentation.

For more information on the hiring experience in the Journal, see Christina Binkley, “Botox for the Résumé:  One Woman’s Image Makeover,”  Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2008, pp. D1 and D8

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About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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