Bad Candidate!

I was disappointed with the candidate we interviewed on Monday. At the last minute we were told it was a phone interview, instead of in-person, because the candidate broke his foot over the weekend. I don't like phone interviews because it's difficult to tell if the candidate is getting assistance from a friend, or consulting a book (sometimes you can hear the pages turning over the phone).

This candidate listed a college degree, and a major technical certification (MCSD), on his resume, both marked TBD (to be determined), which seemed odd. I asked him how far along he was on the MCSD certification track (you have to complete roughly 6 or 7 tests to become an MCSD), and he said he hadn't started yet. Naturally my next, unspoken thought was, "Then why is it on your resume??"

The same with the college degree. You don't put a college degree on your resume if you don't have it yet!!

Liers need not apply! But almost everyone we interview has drastically embellished something on their resume. It's unbelievable. Is work that hard to come by, or has everyone's conscience finally become completely seared over?