A friend of mine just got laid off after being on his job for less than two weeks. We went to college together. Sure, he wasn't the brightest of the lot but he's street smart and I thought he'd do great after he finished Grad School. So I was a little shocked (and sad) that he was asked to quit so soon.
I felt like I should help him out in whatever way I could. And since I had a network of people who were in a similar field of work, I asked him to pass on his resume. When I reviewed his resume, I realized he had fabricated most of it - his work experience, his college activities... they were blatant lies! Suddenly, I did not feel so sorry about him losing his job.
Yes, I know what you are thinking. Everybody exaggerates on their resume. No biggie! Well, sadly I belong to that small teensie class of losers who never cheated on exams, believed that doing the homework was actually beneficial blah blah... you get my drift. I never liked people who always talked big but would have nothing to account for it (I'm not implying my friend is one of them).
Anyway point being, I did not want to help him out anymore. I felt it was like tarnishing my own reputation by propagating someone else's lie. What if he was lying about everything else on his resume too? Would I want to refer someone when I wasn't sure myself of his work abilities - just because he's a friend?
And then comes the social dilemma. He's been a great friend for 6 long years now and has really helped me out (or at least tried to) quite a few times. And for me to judge him based on this seems petty. But somehow I just cannot bring myself to doing it. Maybe if I souped up my otherwise plain resume, I'd feel less strongly about it? Or maybe I should just pass it on and hope that other people see through the fakeness.
I felt like I should help him out in whatever way I could. And since I had a network of people who were in a similar field of work, I asked him to pass on his resume. When I reviewed his resume, I realized he had fabricated most of it - his work experience, his college activities... they were blatant lies! Suddenly, I did not feel so sorry about him losing his job.
Yes, I know what you are thinking. Everybody exaggerates on their resume. No biggie! Well, sadly I belong to that small teensie class of losers who never cheated on exams, believed that doing the homework was actually beneficial blah blah... you get my drift. I never liked people who always talked big but would have nothing to account for it (I'm not implying my friend is one of them).
Anyway point being, I did not want to help him out anymore. I felt it was like tarnishing my own reputation by propagating someone else's lie. What if he was lying about everything else on his resume too? Would I want to refer someone when I wasn't sure myself of his work abilities - just because he's a friend?
And then comes the social dilemma. He's been a great friend for 6 long years now and has really helped me out (or at least tried to) quite a few times. And for me to judge him based on this seems petty. But somehow I just cannot bring myself to doing it. Maybe if I souped up my otherwise plain resume, I'd feel less strongly about it? Or maybe I should just pass it on and hope that other people see through the fakeness.
