The biggest lies people tell in job interviews

HOW far would you stretch the truth to land that dream job? Half of all employers believe candidates lie on their resumes. Here are the worst ones.

EVER told a white lie to get what you wanted?

According to online payroll services company SurePayroll’s March 2015 survey results, half of all employers believe candidates lied on their resumes, primarily by misrepresenting skills and experiences; the same number have caught employees in tall tales, such as faking an illness.

Considering lying is no laughing matter, we rounded up several egregious falsehoods.

THE IDENTITY THIEF

Holly Redfern, owner of an Astoria, Queens-based employment agency, stopped a job offer in its tracks before a potential personal assistant to a CEO could have “robbed them blind” by accessing personal and confidential information, jewellery and home technology.

Five years ago, Redfern, 39, met an ideal candidate who, as she says, “walked, talked and dressed the part.” The candidate passed interviews with flying colours — but red flags quickly emerged.

“The name on the driver’s license didn’t match the name of the Social Security number,” recalls Redfern. When questioned, the candidate indicated she went by her middle name, rather than her first.

Then Redfern was unable to reach three references after leaving voicemails. The first eventually called her back, and the candidate advised her to call the second back. “That was when I realised I was speaking to the same person as the first reference,” Redfern says. Smelling a scam, she didn’t bother calling the third.

Creating a sense of urgency, the candidate wanted to bypass the background check — but Redfern refused, so she could do her due diligence. “Because it’s New York City and people want things when they want them, they don’t want to wait for it,” she recalls. (And no, the candidate definitely did not receive the job offer.)

The verdict: Meyer says it’s important for bosses to carefully evaluate a candidate’s credentials and not hire based on a first impression.

“Be methodical, don’t fall in love, validate credentials and do your homework first,” she says. “It’s counterintuitive to take a long time to hire someone, but it will save you enormous amounts of time and money later. Our biggest mistakes in hiring stem from speed.”

SNAGGED ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Emily Lyons, CEO of Midtown West-based model staffing agency Femme Fatale Media, caught a model red-handed after the beauty reneged on a gig due to her grandfather’s passing — or so she said.

Lyons, who was Facebook friends with the model, saw photos of the beauty pop up in her news feed that same night — but she was far from her family’s side. She was at a nightclub — and her body was painted gold. Lyons inquired, and the fibber explained she went there after leaving the hospital and got the offer to have her body painted for fun. Needless to say, she was fired.

“Anyone who has done a body-paint gig knows there is nothing fun about it,” says Lyons, 29. Plus, body-paint events pay well, so Lyons suspects she was offered the job at the last minute and thought she could get away with it.

The verdict: Pamela Meyer, certified fraud examiner and founder and CEO of Washington, DC-based Calibrate, a deception detection training company, suggests being vigilant with social media, and assume it’s completely transparent.

Meyer adds it’s important not to take your relationships for granted. “I know you may be super busy, overworked, underpaid, underappreciated or even underqualified,” she explains. “Don’t lose your perspective on the big picture.”

DEGREE DECEIT

Vicki Winters, 58, recalls her first day at work as an executive assistant at Credit Suisse First Boston — and the resume blunder that eventually halted her employment. “When you sit down the first day at orientation, you fill out 20 pages of paperwork and say, ‘I swear everything on this paper is true, otherwise you can fire me.’ ”

Turns out she should have read those reams of paperwork more carefully. Three months later, in 2004 — enjoying her job and loving her boss — the fact-checking department asked for a copy of her degree. “I hung up the phone and said, ‘Are you f — – king kidding me?’ ” recalls the Tribeca resident.

That’s because Winters attended the University of Miami — but she dropped out in 1977. Studying Spanish, communications, “tanning and disco,” she indicated having earned a bachelor’s degree on her resume and paperwork.

Approaching 50 at the time, she originally put it on her resume 30 years prior, not thinking it was a big deal to put B.A. since she went to college for three years. No one previously questioned her education, but when the employer realised degree proof wasn’t en route, she was sacked.

The Tribeca resident learned a harsh lesson — and strongly advises against fibbing, even if it is about something that happened decades ago. “Honestly, don’t lie on your resume,” says Winters, who now runs her own social-media and digital marketing business. “Just don’t. I haven’t lied since.”

The verdict: Renee, a deception and credibility expert who asked not to use her last name for professional reasons, says candidates often short-circuit themselves, thinking, “If only I had this experience or that credential, I’d get my dream job.”

“Lies bring short-term gains and long-term pains in lost reputation, trust, wages and relationships plus stress, humiliation and embarrassment,” says Renee.

So if you want to get ahead, earn valid accomplishments: “You will be rewarded tenfold with pride, a sense of accomplishment, more earning power and potential that can never be taken away, because you earned it.”

This article originally appeared on New York Post.

Originally published as The biggest lies people tell in job interviews