Saturday, March 04, 2006

Lying and Misrepresentation

What's on your resume?

I don't ask this question because I actually want to know, but to point out a pervasive habit. It's come up more and more as the Class of 2006 prepares for the next steps in life. We find ourselves really wanting to get that job or grad school offer, so we don't outright lie, but we make some statements which could be misinterpreted. We say we're working on publishing papers, when the papers may never be published, or talk about experience with Linux, which actually means we used it for half a class during our first semester of college. Not outright lies, but not complete truth either.

Lying is a tricky little dilemma, and misrepresentation is just a form of lying.

Why are we, and presumably others, misrepresenting ourselves like this? Could it be necessary for us to lie because it’s what’s expected to get the job? Are we just driven and using our communication skills to tip the scales in our favor? Is this to compensate for other weaknesses, perceived or real, like going to a small, unknown university or sub par GPA? There must be reasons for these little lies.

Moreover, how do we feel about these lies? For some every little inflation and imperfection glossed over is a trying experience, while for others, this is a normal part of life, not even noticed consciously. Do people generally feel guilty over these little lies? Should we feel guilty? Does the size of the lie matter? Do the consequences matter? How do we quantify our lies and their ill effects?


The answers to these questions are unknown and, for the most part, are likely to remain that way. The ethicists, both classical and modern, have written about lying and philosophies that apply to lying. With their lucid guidance, perhaps a deeper understanding of lying and its’ implications in a modern lifestyle will emerge.

Why do you lie?

5 Comments:

Blogger Grant Hutchins said...

Well I'd like to hope that not everyone lies on their résumés. A professor once pointed out to me that when I say that I "organized and ran Big Conversations" that it implies that I was in control and making decisions. Wording can be unintentionally misleading when it gets terse.

Anyway, I thought I'd point you to the recent resignation of Radio Shack's CEO due to lies found on his résumé. Essentially he claimed two degrees that not only he didn't earn, but that the particular university does not even offer.

3:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The problem is that "strong wording" is encouraged. Saying that I "assisted with" or "helped to" is "bad", according to Those That Know. So then I "designed" and "built". Hope no one asks about the parts I didn't work on...

With things like "Linux" and such, I always look at it as "What can I talk intelligently about and guarantee that I can be functional in within a week?" And some of the context matters -- I'm willing to put that I can use Solidworks and do some machining because I'm generally marketing myself to companies as an electrical engineer -- and those skills are useful for design, even if I never actually utilise them. When I start applying for more mechanical jobs (if I play the grad school game) I probably won't be as quick to volunteer my pathetic mechanical design and fabrication skills. Perhaps it is some slight of hand of mine to assume that the audience of my resume understands the context in which I'm applying, and that if a misunderstanding occurs, I feel like I can point to that. Perhaps that's fallacious. I don't know.

11:51 PM  
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