Misrepresenting yourself while building a personal brand is a common “mistake,” but it’s vital we understand how to be honest with others about who we are.
by Anna Meyer
In the summer of 2008, CareerBuilder reported that 49 percent of employers had caught a lie on a resume while reviewing a potential employee. When CareerBuilder conducted the survey again in August 2014, that percentage of detected lies had risen to 58 percent, with 33 percent of the surveyed employers reporting an increase in embellishments found within the resumes submitted for review after the recession that emerged in the late 2000s. Blame it on desperation or lack of judgment, but unfortunately, lying about oneself while applying for positions or constructing a personal brand online is creating a culture of mistrust in the professional world.
When creating a resume, or online resume on LinkedIn, you’re essentially constructing a personal brand. Often, when we think of the word brand, we think of a well-crafted advertisement campaign thought up by a team of marketers, or of the evolution of companies that try to fit in with the latest trends. But a personal brand is something unique that doesn’t concern larger industries being informed on what a certain demographic needs. Personal brands concern solely the individual, and individuals have to create it for themselves. Personal branding is how we are seen by others, how we see ourselves, and it is a way of representing our accomplishments. Strong personal brands speak with authenticity and let others know of the unique talents and skills that can be brought to the table. As Amy Larson, a Human Resource Leader at GoKart Labs (a digital agency specializing in digital strategy, marketing, and design), sees it, “I describe personal branding as how I would describe myself or how I want others to view and understand me. I want those two things to be the same.”
Without a firm grasp on oneself and a deep-rooted confidence, it can be an overwhelming task to project an attractive brand and find a fitting career. In an attempt to compensate for inexperience, or for other reasons people will use to justify their actions, job seekers will misrepresent themselves through lies or exaggerations online and on paper. There are even online services, such as CareerExcuse and Fake Resume that will create false references, transcripts, letters of recommendation and verification services. These shady services feed on the insecurities and desperation of job hunters, and facilitate dishonesty.
Misrepresentation of oneself and one’s brand has even caused major public terminations, such as ex-CEO of Yahoo, Scott Thompson’s dismissal for claiming he had a second degree in computer science, which wasn’t even offered at his college at the time when he said he earned it. These examples also raise the question: how many people got to where they are today by fibbing? “People have been exaggerating their salaries and experiences for years. The difference is that the social and digital footprint of the information is more accessible and stays with you longer,” Larson explains about resume fraud in the digital age.
With a 2012 study from The Society for Human Resource Management claiming 78 percent of resumes are misleading (53 percent containing clear falsifications), it’s possible that job seekers are starting to feel justified in providing little white lies while branding themselves; it’s simply a common practice.
Karl Speak, principal and founder of consulting firm Brand Tool Box and author of the 2011 Be Your Own Brand, understands that exaggerating one’s accomplishments has become a norm. “Presenting one’s authentic qualities and accomplishments will speak loudly to differentiate oneself. There is innate power in having the confidence to be authentic,” he explains.
Speak and Brand Tool Box developed a program and workshop for a variety of women leaders after receiving feedback from women and trainers that attended other Brand Tool Box workshops that a workshop specifically for women would be beneficial. This workshop’s goal was to encourage and help discover professional potential by providing research-based insights. The program conducted a quantitative research study consisting of 132 women, where women responded to statements concerning how perceptions influence their behaviors. A key finding from this study includes that 50 percent of women believe others do not understand their authentic strengths and talents. The program, called “Accelerate, Don’t Hesitate,” has made conclusions about women and their sense of perception. “Women’s intuition and relationship instincts have them naturally tuned-in to the importance of perceptions. This instinct gives a woman an advantage in building and growing relationships, an important skill in business,” Speak says. “As is human nature, a strength can become a weakness, and women’s relationship with perceptions is no different. Women’s sensitiveness to perceptions creates a tendency to hesitate when interacting with others.” When women become too caught up in how others — especially their employers — perceive their image, desperation takes over. Consequently, they can make changes to their brand, whether those changes are truthful or not.
“Women feel a greater sense of empowerment after they go through the process of defining their authentic qualities and practice leaving the perceptions that represent their true self. In this context, perceptions become a positive force for a woman to get credit for who she is and the contributions she makes,” Speak explains.
Perhaps it’s a misunderstanding of what personal branding is built upon, but lying or exaggerating about oneself is not the way to positively boost a professional persona. Without solid background experience, any professional decision taken afterward will be consumed by hesitation. The stress of maintaining a lie will eat you up, and you’ll feel like a teen sneaking out of the house. But Mom or Dad always found out, and someday, your employer will, too.
When employers are looking for a candidate to potentially fulfill a role, the prerequisites in most cases are required and not suggested. Katie Krick, a Human Resource Development Manager at digital marketing agency Aware Web Solutions, explains that employers genuinely want to see the people whom they hire succeed. “When they get the job under false pretenses, it’s not uncommon to see those individuals struggle and even fail. Employers do their best to accurately lay out the necessary skills to complete a job for a reason,” Krick points out. “It should always be an employer’s intention to set someone up for success in their new role. That’s hard to do when someone has mislead you.”
Untruthful behavior encourages more untruthful behavior, and nobody wants an unethical employee. Concerns of fraud can become associated with an employer after just one individual takes shortcuts. “Put yourself in the shoes of a consumer,” Larson explains. “If a company has misleading or inaccurate information on a product, consumers are angry and could potentially be a risk. The company’s reputation is damaged. In my opinion, your personal brand should be held to the same standards.”
So, what can we do about misrepresentation and false personal branding? Well, there’s the well-known, golden rule of honesty. Steer clear of untruthful enhancements to your story, and never claim to have an experience or title if you didn’t put the work in to receive it. But when those pressures sneak into the back of your mind, here are three different ways to make yourself stand out from the crowd than a false fancy degree or mythical title description on LinkedIn.
KEEP IT REAL
1. Larson suggests using the overview section on LinkedIn to tell people more about yourself. “This is your introduction to your brand. In other words, what you may lack in experience can be assisted by telling more about what you want to learn and how you could contribute,” she says. You can bring up your interests and curiosities about positions and skills that you haven’t had a chance at tackling yet as an honest way to let an employer know what direction you’d like to be going towards in your future.
2. While building that introduction and discovering the core of your personal brand, it’s important to stay true to what you have to offer, instead of making assumptions about what others are looking for. “Think of yourself as a real, individual person, not as someone who is a part of a group or certain demographic,” Speak suggests. “Too many people follow the standard language or profile of a position. Be your authentic self, not a template.”
3. LinkedIn profiles look relatively the same at first glance, but it is how you write on your profile that can set you apart from the other 364 million current LinkedIn users. In too many cases, profiles will include writing that’s safe and expected, such as:
I am a recent college graduate looking to pursue my love of writing. I have worked as an intern at a best-selling magazine. I am looking for work in Chicago or the connecting suburbs, so I can be close to home. To balance my work life, I volunteer monthly with a local food shelf, and I helped organize volunteer groups on the campus of my university.
While there isn’t anything wrong with this introduction, it’s predictable enough that an employer wouldn’t be likely to remember it. Instead of reiterating the information that is included in the education or experience sections of the profile, it’s important to provide the viewer with additional information about yourself that is unique. Above anything else, you want your words to sound like your true self wrote them, instead of some cliché industry clone. If you can achieve that, you will come across as authentic, memorable, and personable; all things that strengthen a personal brand.
But once you’ve created a fitting personal brand, how often should we be reassessing how we’re marketing ourselves? Just as our personalities are fluid in real life, it’s hard to construct a personal brand that can capture that constant change. After major life milestones, such as a move to a new city or after receiving an award, it’s always a good idea to update your profile. But it’s also smart to reassess every now and then how you’re presenting yourself and ask yourself if you still feel like it’s accurate. “Everyone evolves and grows over time, so your personal brand should, too,” Larson says. “You learn new things. Your perspective changes. You value things differently as time goes on…Does your brand still accurately represent you, your thoughts and your beliefs? If not, it’s time for a change.”
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Anna Meyer is a journalism student at the University of Kansas. An arts enthusiast from Minneapolis, Minnesota, she previously worked as a correspondent for KU’s chapter of “Her Campus.” You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
