What's acceptable in a Resume?

A little resume sprucing is part of the process. Employers expect you to jazz up your resume a bit and tailor it for their jobs. But of course, there's a big difference between jazzing and lying.

For example, let's say you're going for a job that requires you to participate directly in launching new products. Naturally, you'll want to highlight anything in your employment history that translates into such experience. Simply writing Regularly attended new-product meetings doesn't pack much punch. But Instrumental in launching new products does, and it's honest if you were truly instrumental.

If you helped to launch only one new product in your entire career, then the statement above is not entirely true. It implies that you launched several new products, which is not the case. Instrumental in launching the widget product is a better way to write it. If you weren't truly instrumental, then Assisted in launching the widget product is more appropriate.

If you've never helped to launch a new product, then any statement on your resume that implies or states that you have, is at least an embellishment if not an outright lie. Sure, all employees do their part to get new products out the door. For example, accountants crunch the numbers and technical writers create user documentation. But this is incidental involvement, not direct participation as the statements above imply. It may catch up with you during an interview or worse, on the job.

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