Gen Z are lying on their resumes and job applications — and it’s not why you think
Nearly half of Gen Z job seekers have lied on their job applications, according to new research that paints a troubling picture not so much of today’s stable of talent but, rather, the hiring landscape.
Two recent reports reveal that resume dishonesty has reached epidemic proportions, with younger workers leading the charge. As the career services platform Career.io reports, among 1,000 full-time workers surveyed, nearly half (47%) of Gen Z applicants have fibbed their way through applications, compared to fewer than 10% of boomers. Meanwhile, the online job board FlexJobs reveals that one-third of 2,200 workers surveyed have stretched the truth on their resumes or cover letters.
Career experts say the real story here isn’t about moral decline, as many might imagine – it’s about market desperation.
“As companies continue to adopt AI and other automation technologies, the number of entry-level jobs has declined, especially in the tech sector,” explains Camilo Izquierdo, digital PR specialist at Career.io. His team’s research reveals that entry-level hiring at major tech companies has plummeted more than 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels. “This shift favors experienced hires who can hit the ground running, leaving recent grads with fewer opportunities and more pressure to embellish their resumes just to get noticed.”
The pressure isn’t just economic – it’s cultural. Gen Z is the first generation to grow up entirely immersed in social media, where polished highlight reels dominate their feeds. “They tend to gravitate toward TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, which are filled with polished, bite-sized pieces of content where everyone seems to be thriving,” Izquierdo points out. “Add in the rise of influencers openly encouraging others to lie on their resumes, and it’s no surprise that many Gen Z job seekers feel tempted to exaggerate their own career stories.”
The data reveals telling patterns about where applicants bend the truth.
Among Gen Z workers who admitted to dishonesty, 29% exaggerated their responsibilities, while 24% inflated their work experience. FlexJobs found that 19% of respondents fake enthusiasm for company missions, while 10% stretch employment dates to cover unemployment gaps.
Toni Frana, career expert manager at FlexJobs, sees these embellishments as symptoms of a larger problem. “Workers sometimes feel they need to stretch the truth to meet job market pressures and expectations from prospective employers,” she says. “In an effort to avoid being overlooked by hiring managers, rank higher with ATS scanners, or be the ‘perfect fit’ for a role, many are resorting to embellishments for the sake of staying competitive.”
Rather than tightening the verification screws, many HR leaders are rethinking their approach entirely, as Izquierdo notes, advocating for skills-based hiring that focuses on capabilities rather than traditional credentials. “Job seekers of all ages can benefit from this hiring trend by reworking their resumes to highlight their skills over job titles and backing up those skills with concrete examples or measurable outcomes,” he suggests.
This shift requires investment on the employer’s side as well. “For hiring managers, embracing skills-based hiring goes hand in hand with investing in better training and onboarding programs, especially if they want entry-level talent to grow and thrive within their organization,” Izquierdo adds.
The risks of dishonesty are severe. Research from reference-checking firm Checkster found that 7 in 10 recruiters would not hire candidates who lied on resumes, even with “good reason,” while more than 3 in 5 would reject applicants providing false references.
Yet with 58% of job seekers searching daily – 2 in 5 of them multiple times per day, per FlexJobs – and nearly half feeling more pessimistic about their career prospects than they did last year, the pressure to exaggerate one’s work experience continues to grow. And as economic headwinds persist and headlines paint a grim picture for recent college graduates, experts predict the problem will worsen before it improves.
“People may feel compelled to stretch the truth, but doing so can have negative consequences, as employers will eventually figure out that you were not completely honest in how you represented yourself,” Frana warns.
In other words, he adds, job seekers should remember that while the pressure to find work may be real, providing employers with an authentic version of their career story is the most honest bet.