Sometimes out of desperation, people may put things on their resume that are not true. This is truly one of the most stupid things they can do, particularly when applying for a professional position.
Can you imagine someone working as an engineer and does not have the qualifications. The fallout is huge in both money and possibly risk to life. Because of that reason companies will test their employment candidates. More people than you think tweak their resume beyond their qualifications. By rule the more complex the job, the more involved the test.
Some tests can be simply as ‘How would you do this?’. Others can be sit down in a room with a real test on paper looking for real answers to typical problems the hiring company may encounter. Some tests may look for your knowledge of terminology. If your resume says you can type 65 words per minute, be ready to sit down and prove it.
Unfortunately in some countries like Thailand, many of the degrees are just a piece of paper. Only a very few universities are accredited. This is an unfortunate reality for some students who think sleeping in the back of a class and copying answers will get them a degree. The employment test for them becomes a wall of reality and they can look forward to working at McDonalds when they can’t pass the test.
The bottom line here is only put the truth. Sooner or later you will develop a reputation that will end up in a data base at the local unemployment office. Hiring companies have access to that data base and you could end up on a don’t hire black list of sorts.
How much can you stretch it depends on how honest you are at your interview. Lets say you only worked with Microsoft Excel for a few hours. Well you can certainly put it on your resume that you know how to use Excel. When the company asks during your interview tell them just a day or so, and it will not be a lie. It us up to them to decide if they want to help you get up to speed. Certainly you can learn some of these programs at home, and that certainly counts as experience.
That brings us to experience that is not work related and can be applied to a job. As long as you are honest with yourself you should be fine.
That finally brings us to the general understanding that a clean resume is your best chance at a job. Just tune it for the job and the rest is up to you.
