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Interviewer slams candidates for fake resumes, says ‘Fake it only if you know it'
An interviewer in a Reddit post shared how fake experiences are exposed quickly.
Candidates often use tricks to make their resumes look more impressive, such as adding fake experience or listing skills they don’t actually have.
An interviewer, who conducts over 300 interviews a year, shared observations on Reddit, highlighting how both freshers and experienced professionals sometimes exaggerate or fabricate achievements.
“Fake Experience on Resume - Interviewer PoV,” the caption of the post reads.
Interviewers call out exaggerations:
According to the post, many candidates use high-impact words like “Led”, “Implementation”, “Single-Handedly”, and “Stakeholder”, often copied from other resumes or generated by AI.
While these terms may look impressive on paper, the interviewer said they are quickly exposed during questioning.
“One lady mentioned she worked on a specific project and got appreciation. When I asked her about it, she couldn't remember anything,” the post adds.
Another candidate copied content from a senior, claiming to “lead a team of five to deliver XYZ”. Despite having two years of experience, the candidate did not even know basic concepts like SDLC.
The interviewer also noted a fresher listing hands-on experience in Java, XML, JSON, PL/SQL, Python, C++, COBOL, UNIX, and SAP ABAP, an unusually wide range of technologies for someone just starting.
“Fake it till you make it, but make sure you know something about it,” the post adds.
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Check out the post here:
Reddit reacts:
Reddit users reacted strongly to the post, with many agreeing that honesty matters more than fake skills. Some pointed out that, in today’s competitive job market, freshers feel they might never get selected if they don’t exaggerate or lie on their resumes.
One of the users commented, “Fresher pov - your resume won't even get shortlisted if you don't lie.”
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A second user commented, “Ain't nothing wrong with it. I was an HR recruiter. Corporate screw us, we give them back.”
“We all tried the honest path once, but we didn't get anything out of it,” another user commented.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
