ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH ON YOUR CV

This is also true of many of the people that I meet, in the SMME arena, on a daily basis. Instead of just admitting that they are not sure about something and then doing the research, they look their client in the eyes and lie through their teeth. Then when it comes time to deliver the goods/services, there are a host of 'explanations' of why they didn't/couldn't/wouldn't do it.

What they don't seem to realize either is the fact that they are not only discrediting themselves, and would therefore be unlikely to ever get work from that particular client again, but they are also making it tougher on the rest of the people in the SMME market.

Months later when the bottom falls out of their little world and their business collapses, they lament again about how 'tough' it is out there. Once again there are a host of reasons of why they didn't make it and the blame goes out to everyone else from the President, to the government and obviously now would be a really good time to take a shower and blame it on Zuma as well. The only person that they do not look at and do not blame of course, is themselves. Yet, in my opinion, they are totally responsible for their own downfall! The bottom line is that they did not deliver.

Telling your client that you are not sure about something, but that you will reseach it, or find someone else that can help them with that particular problem, will not deminish you in their eyes, in fact what you have now done is add value to the service/widget whatever, that you have given to your client. You will find that the client will respect you for your honesty and more work will be referred to you by way of thanks.

Keep it honest folks, honesty will get you much further in the long run.

Always tell the truth on your CV

John Mullins

25 April 2007 at 11h00

It's quite fascinating to watch the performance of sporting stars throughout the season, seeing whether these people can deliver on the often well-publicised promises they make at the start of a season. Coaches are pretty-much the best at these "oh-I-just-put-my-foot- in-my-mouth" statements. I remember listening one year to a famous rugby coach at the start of the Super 14 competition, urging all the followers of the team to buy into a new campaign titled something like "We'll do whatever it takes". This was in reference to a promise that they would definitely be in the final of the competition, no matter what. A pretty bold promise, we all thought. However, looking at the team on paper we were encouraged by the abundance of talent that was available. Three months later we were all lamenting the disastrous performance of the team that ended up at the bottom of the log.

It happens quite often in the boxing world as well. Often we see fighters mouthing off before a fight how they are going to dismantle their opposition, only to find that, within the first 30 seconds of the first round, they are lying unconscious in the ring with a smartly dressed official holding smelling salts to their nose.

It's a familiar sight in sport, but it happens in business and in pretty average jobs too. For most people it starts with a well-scripted CV. You have the choice to jazz it up, or to leave it pretty factual and somewhat boring. The trick is to make sure there is a balance, though. More and more we find people being caught out for "falsely" portraying their experience and qualifications in their CV.

This is really not worth it - why set yourself up for failure like that? Recently there have been public investigations of people who have made slightly less-than-true submissions on their CVs. For the record, there is a difference between a doctorate and a master's degree. The point is that your CV becomes your first promise of what you can deliver, a bit like the rugby team that looked good on paper.

This is where you, too, get to look good on paper. It's not that you should be embarrassed about a lack of experience, or feel shy that you are not overly qualified, but we certainly don't want you to start fabricating information just to look good. Rather trust what you can do. I think the rugby coach would have gained more respect from people if he had said he believed his team would finish around the mid-table mark.

Rather be honest than leave yourself exposed to major repercussions if you are caught out. The other obvious consideration is that, in sport, a team only has to endure some negative criticism for falsely portraying their performance credentials, whereas you could be in trouble for lying on your CV. It extends to the interview as well, where we often see even more dramatic evidence of people claiming to be able to conquer the world. I am amazed when I sit with managers who ask candidates whether they are "up to the job". I am even more amazed when they casually accept the standard, "Oh yes, sir, I most certainly won't let you down" response. It's obvious they will say almost anything to get the job, leaving reality slightly behind the truth in most cases.

It then becomes a nightmare of performance problems and trust breakdown as the employer expects more, while the employee delivers less. The worst thing to do in this scenario is to blame everything else except yourself. Now is the time to learn from your mistakes. Even better, rather portray yourself accurately. Aim high but don't get beyond yourself. Be sure you can deliver when you promise to do so. Remember, you are contracting your performance levels with your employer, and they will expect you to reach the levels you advertised. So instead of over-promising and then getting into the "blame game" when things go bad, rather be authentic and learn to trust yourself and be resourceful.