Just weeks after George Santos’ election to the House of Representatives, questions began to arise about claims he made on the campaign trail.
According to a story from National Public Radio: “Santos described graduating from Baruch College, said he worked for Goldman Sachs, and claimed to own valuable real estate properties.
He now acknowledges none of that is true.”
Santos’s case has created a firestorm of attention, with both voters and fellow politicians weighing in on whether he is fit to hold public office.
Regardless of what you think about Santos, his story shares a number of parallels to experiences found in the hiring process, where job candidates often misrepresent themselves to prospective employers.
Sifting through Embellishments and Lies
Studies estimate that 40% - 60% of applicants embellish or simply lie on their resumes. Some of the more common falsified claims relate to years of experience, job titles, education history, length of service at previous employers, salary, and job skills. Basically, everything of consequence.
These types of deceptive practices are certainly not news to HR departments. Like the police officer who grants drivers some wiggle room when it comes to exceeding the speed limit, most HR managers expect, and are accepting of, a certain amount of embellishment.
Otherwise, they would be eliminating half of their applicant pool and would be severely limiting their ability to fill positions in a timely manner.
