WFAA-TV

DALLAS - While the pay and job may differ, from CEOs to rap stars to entry level government workers, there appears to be a growing trend of lying on resumes.

Dallas-based rapper Steve Austin, who goes by the name "Bioniq MC," claims his music reflects the intensity of the eight years he served in the Marine Corps.

His latest single, "Bussa Move," zoomed to Billboard Music's top ten hip-hop singles.

It's a great success story, except that when the Marine Corps Times newspaper checked Austin's military record, it found he never served.

Stories such as these have some wondering just why are so many people "resume puffing?"

"We see it all the time in here, and we see it everyday," said Julie Turner, who runs the Fort Worth office of Express Personnel Services, a firm that verifies backgrounds of job applicants. "And so, it disappoints me, but it doesn't surprise me to see that."

Because of the mobile workforce, online diploma mills and companies reluctant to give out information on former workers, human resource professionals like Turner say more than half of job applicants now lie on resumes.

Education seems to be a hot spot for resume puffing.

Dave Edmondson took over as CEO of the Fort Worth-based Radio Shack last year with pay over $1 million. The future looked bright until the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Edmondson never earned the two bachelor's degrees he claimed. Edmondson resigned.

With so much puffing, more employers are hiring companies like Express Personnel to check applicant's criminal record, and to call each school listed on a resume and application.

Employees say often dates or a diploma are found not matching.

"They are there not even a fraction of the time they say they are there, or, that's mostly, they don't even have the degree," Turner said.

David Fryar claimed he was a CPA, a certified public accountant, on his resume he filled out when the Dallas Independent School District hired him as director of district integrity last year.

Fryar said he planned to crack down on fraud, until the Dallas Morning News reported Fryar didn't hold a CPA's license from the state and he quit.

As a public sector employer, Dallas County frequently finds applicants lying about their criminal records. The county expects applicants to even disclose information about cases ending with deferred adjudication that supposedly wipes records clean.

"We expect an employee or applicant to be truthful; and if they're not, they may say something about their ability to do the job," said Dan Savage, Dallas County.

As resume puffing increases, employers are digging deeper to learn the truth about job applicants.

"We are going to find it out somehow, someway," Turner said. "It's better to be honest."

Meanwhile, human resource managers say they still see people doing it, believing they won't get caught.

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