I am applying for a job I want, but looking over my resume it's less than impressive.  I know I am qualified, but I haven't been having a lot of luck applying for these sorts of positions with my 100% honest resume.  So, drastic measures are called for.  I think I have little to lose.  

Is anyone here especially experienced in faking their resumes?  Or have any stories?  There's a different between exaggerated or embellishing.  I'm basically making up jobs to explain gaps in employment, but not job qualifications.

Why do you have gaps in your employment history?  And why do you want to cover them up??

Seems like these would be relevant issues for a future employer to worry about.  Oh well, whatever.

Personally, I think you might be better off finding a friend who is good at resume-writing and asking him/her/it to go over yours.  You might just need some editing done so that your resume brings out your sterling qualities.

I have found that most resumes I see are too full of irrelevant information and too generic.  If you are interested in one particular job, your resume should tell things that are relevant to the job description and why you would be a good candidate for the position.  

We don't care about your hobbies, interests, civic service, etc. - "just the facts".

And gaps in employment history are a definite no no.  I don't always check out the whole history, but I am suspicious of someone who leaves out parts of his past.  If something didn't work out, explain it, don't hide it.

If you lie about anything it can and will be used against you later if they want to fire you for any reason.  There is a lot of online resume information that might help you. And if you are really brave post it on here and let everyone critique it for free.

Good Luck.  

Its not all in the resume, its in the interview. If you are getting interviews from sending in resumes than they must be good enough to get you in the door. Close the deal with a strong personality. If the resume shows a different person than what they see in front of them its not good for you. Its not a good idea to lie on a resume because if they would check then that could hurt you in the future if for some reason you may wan't a job with them later on.

The objective of your resume' should be to provide just enough information to whet the reviewer's appetite for more -- and invite you for a personal interview.

Use action words, and make your resume' speak in an active voice.  I've found a review of 'help wanted' ads in the Sunday newspaper to be a good resource to find 'action words' that work.

Too many people make the mistake of preparing a 'general' resume, which provides too much information and is too busy visually.  A few well worded bullets work very well.

Good luck!

You need to tailor your resume to your profession as well as to the specific position you are applying for. That's the game. If you're a techie, you don't even need good English grammar. With all the Russians, Asians, and Indians applying for tech positions, grammar is an afterthought. In fact, if you apply at a large corporation, most likely your resume will be scanned and read with OCR software. In that case, all you need to do is make sure you have the necessary keywords in there.

I’ve seen 1/2 page resumes with nothing but crap like this:

C++
Java
EJB
Visual C++
MFC
ADO
COM
ATL
Oracle
SQL Server
Linux
Senior Engineer
Supervise

Makes you feel good about the state of affairs, doesn’t it?

I've seen a techie resume (on a webpage) of the fat programer butt naked, a profile of him at the keyboard, with a caption saying "Me work good".  He makes six figures.

The american way is to lie like a Democrat On your resume & app thats how you get the good jobs . find abunch of busness that went out of busness and say you worked there the bigger the company the better just dont lie on job apps if your applying for a job @ social security because they have your complete employment history.  Rember When your at your Interview dont forget to smile when you lie and dont forget to tell them how much of a asset you would be to that company . I know this guy he is a high school drop out and he allways gets great jobs I asked him How in the hell do you get those good jobs He said I BS and tell them what they want to hear And make up fake companies Just make shure you can do the job .  

Take a look at this and see if it will help.
-XM15
[url]http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1318/n11_v52/21225105/p1/article.jhtml[/url]

Being licensed, having to go through background checks, finger printed everytime I changed jobs, and having been in the trading side of the investment industry, its kinda hard to do that. Traders tend to talk to each other on a daily basis, so its not too difficult to know someone who knew you.

That said, I seem to recall that you might be getting into the same industry as I am. I would just put down that you did did temp work in between jobs.

As someone that goes through a lot of IT resumes on a regular basis I can tell you that I look for very specific things.

The first thing I look for is contracting. It seems that most people that have contracted are always looking for that next contract. So I rule out anyone that has had any significant contracting. I have been burnt to many times.

The second thing I look for is length of employment at other organizations. It seems difficult to find people that have stayed more than a year. But they do exist. I want someone that can show some loyalty. I dont' want to spend a lot of money training someone and then have them bail on me.

The third thing I look at is relevant experience. I am looking to fill very specific technical needs.

If they can make this cut I bring them in for a look. At that time we give them a technical interview and try to get a feel for how they will fit into the shop. The face to face interview is much more important.

Gaps in employment raise questions but do not necessarily mean a person won't get an interview. But expect questions about the gap(s). Although to many gaps are a red flag. IMO everyone gets laid off at sometime. And it does happen to some very good people. There is no reason to hold that against someone.

I would never lie on a resume. To me it is the same as lying on an application. A copy of your resume goes into your employee folder with your app. If you lie it is automatic termination. I do not feel it is worth the risk.

Rusty