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From “Excel experts” who freeze at a simple formula to “chefs” who can’t chop onions, employers say exaggerated skills are showing up more than ever.
A new Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll reveals a startling truth about today’s hiring landscape: job seekers may be stretching the truth on their resumes far more than they admit — and employers say they can spot the exaggerations a mile away.
According to U.S. hiring managers, 80% say candidates' resumes don’t match their real-world skills at least sometimes, with 34% reporting it happens all the time or often.
Meanwhile, just 22% of job seekers confess to listing skills they don’t actually have; a gap raising major red flags for employers.
And now, with AI at every applicant’s fingertips, companies are sounding the alarm. Eighty-six percent of hiring managers believe AI makes it too easy to embellish resumes, and 42% strongly agree it’s becoming a serious hiring risk.
Wild Resume Claims? Hiring Managers Have Seen It All
Employers shared some of their most jaw-dropping experiences when a candidate’s “expertise” evaporated the moment they stepped into the job:
- A self-proclaimed forklift operator who crashed and took out an entire shelf on day one.
- A “chef” who couldn’t cut onions.
- A VP candidate who listed 10 years of experience — without being old enough to have 10 years of experience.
- A new hire who claimed proficiency with a POS system but froze at the screen like it was written in an ancient language, leading to same-day dismissal.
- A kitchen lead who walked out by noon because they didn’t know how to do any of the tasks they claimed they could do.
- A candidate who boasted “exceptional” negotiation skills but fell apart in a de-escalation roleplay, immediately offering a full refund without attempting to solve the problem.
- Another who touted strong communication skills, only for client meetings to quickly prove otherwise.
Job seekers themselves admitted to resume creativity, too — including pretending to be a licensed plumber, a data security expert, an advanced Excel wizard and even listing Google Analytics expertise without knowing what it was.
Discover more research and real-world workforce trends from the America Employed series at ExpressPros.com/Newsroom.
Survey Methodology
The Job Insights survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from Nov. 3 to 19, 2025, among 1,002 U.S. hiring decision-makers.
The Job Seeker Report was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from Nov. 7 to 20, 2025, among 1,003 adults ages 18 and older.
For full survey methodologies, please contact Sheena.Hollander@ExpressPros.com, Director of Corporate Communications & PR.
