Financial Services & Recruiting academyrecruiting on 01 Mar 2008 12:00 pm
Embellishing, exaggerating, or just plain old lying?
I addressed this subject before back in October, but I guess everybody doesn’t read my blog. At least this guy didn’t, or if he did, he wasn’t paying attention.
Yet another case of somebody “embellishing” things on their resume - this time it’s Robert Irvine, the guy who hosts Dinner: Impossible on the Food Network. Actually, I should say “hosted”, because he’s been let go ( “Food Network Drops Tainted Chef” ).
“Embellishing”? Well, that’s how it’s being described, but that’s putting it mildly, I think - seems like “lying” would be a lot more appropriate word. You tell me - here’s a list of some of the things Irvine said he did, but didn’t really do:
- cooked for four U.S. Presidents, including being the chef at the Inaugural Dinners for both Presidents Bush
- worked on the wedding cake for Prince Charles and Princess Diana
- had a B.S. in Food and Nutrition from Leeds University
- was knighted
- was given a castle by Queen Elizabeth
Irvine’s comments about the knighthood give a good insight into how people get caught up in this sort of thing:
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“When I first came down there and I met people down there with all this money, it was like trying to keep up with the Joneses. I was sitting in a bar one night and that came out. It was stupid.”
Sounds just like an old Jon Lovitz routine, doesn’t it? “Yeah, I’m Mister…uh, Doctor…uh, Sir …yeah, that’s it, Siiirrr Robert Irvine….yeah, that’s the ticket.”
Irvine has issued a statement apologizing…well, sort of. Here’s the first sentence, which is pretty revealing:
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“I was wrong to exaggerate in statements related to my experiences regarding the royal family.”
“Exaggerating”? Yeah, OK.
It’s one thing to toot your own horn, put yourself in the best light, or emphasize all your great accomplishments on your resume, and it’s another to just make things up. That said, it can be pretty easy to start crossing the line between the two once you start heading that direction, and you need to be very, very careful.
Make sure you are crystal clear about the difference, and don’t ever “embellish”, “exaggerate”, or - to be more blunt about what it really is - LIE on your resume.
