Answer to Question #167844 in Economics of Enterprise for Ghil

Question

In the light of prevalence of these practices, is resume inflation and deception okay? Is it okay up to a point as long as distortion does not get too big? Is a small amount of puffery on one's resume just expected as part of the game of getting a job and getting ahead? What would the controversial approach to business ethics say?

Answer 1

Just because there exist candidates who deceive on their resume doesn’t make it okay practice to do so. This isn’t the best practice especially if the company requires specific skills which a candidate doesn’t have. Furthermore, when a candidate focus on deception, he or she neglects their own accomplishments in other areas which may make them stand out.

One should not assume that company hiring managers will expect inflating resumes. However, the conventional approach to business ethics suggests the practice to be tolerable if the inflation isn’t completely false. For example, lying about having a certain major would be against conventional approach.