It is okay to embellish your resume. However, "imagination" and "fantasy" are completely different things.

Hello, this is Ponzu.

Recently, while watching the work performance of a subordinate who was assigned to my team, I started thinking about something.

Do you all write your resumes honestly? To be honest, I embellished mine.

The gap between an impressive resume and reality

That subordinate joined the company mid-career about a month before I did.

Their resume stated, "Engaged in multiple projects as a project leader." I heard that their evaluation at the time of hiring was high.

However, as soon as we started working together, I began to feel something was off.

First of all, they cannot meet deadlines. Deliverables do not arrive by the agreed-upon date. When I ask for the reason, they reply with things like, "It was finished, but the merge wasn't done yet..." or "I was in the middle of a final check."

One day, they took a day off when they had assigned tasks. Even when they came to work the next day, there wasn't a single word of apology. When I asked them about it gently, they replied, "I handed it over properly to Mr./Ms. XX."

Yeah, I know. But I thought to myself, the team had to split up the work to cover for you.

The arrow of their excuses always points only in a direction that protects themselves. There was a significant distance between the "project leader" figure on their resume and their work performance right in front of me.

Whether you can control expectations

Watching this subordinate, I thought again about what it means to be "good at your job."

• Being able to master AI?

• Having fast output?

• Having high-quality output?

• Having high communication skills?

I think all of those are important. But what I think "being good at your job" means is much simpler.

Whether you can control the other party's expectations. I think it probably comes down to this.

That subordinate joined the company after raising expectations as high as possible with their resume. But if they don't meet those expectations after joining, their evaluation will be harsh even if they are doing the same work.

Whether you have thought about how you will live up to the expectations you have raised. If this part is missing, "embellishing" your resume will become a tool that hangs you out to dry.

0 to 1 fantasy, and 1 to 10 imagination

So, is it wrong to embellish your resume in the first place? I don't think so.

To put it simply, I think embellishing a resume is like the Kaio-ken. It's a technique to make your experience (combat power) look several times greater based on your actual level. But the Kaio-ken is meaningless if you don't have the original combat power. Anything multiplied by 0 is 0.

Actually, I myself joined my current company as a person on the "imagination" side. My previous job was at a factory in the countryside. The quality, scale, and level were completely different from projects at listed Prime companies in Tokyo. I was treating things that weren't even named "projects" as projects and writing them on my resume.

But I have managed to get by since joining the company. Subordinates who joined by embellishing their resumes in the same way are struggling.

When I thought about what the difference was, I arrived at one answer.

If you embellish from 0 to 1, it becomes impossible. But if you embellish from 1 to 10, you can manage.

If you have even 1 unit of experience, you can imagine, "It's probably about this much at a listed company." Because you are aware of what you are lacking, you try desperately to catch up after joining.

But if you have 0 experience, you don't even know what you don't know. It becomes a fantasy, not an imagination.

Imagination is something you build on the foundation of experience. Fantasy is drawing a picture where there is no foundation. If it's within the scope of imagination, you can fill in the gaps after joining. But if it's a fantasy, there is no way to fill them.

Thoughts as someone who did the embellishing

In my case, at the rural factory, I wrote:

Business improvement using Excel VBA
Introduction of a packaged core system
Introduction of SaaS
Replacing dozens of PCs, etc.

as "project experience" on my resume.

However, I actually did those things. Even if it was small, I had the experience of involving stakeholders, setting a schedule, and seeing it through to the end.

I set up reporting meetings on my own and gave formal reports to stakeholders. Although, the stakeholders were the president and two executives. The executives were the president's wife and sister. Of course, I also invited the managers and section chiefs of the relevant departments, and I intentionally made it look grand.

The scale was incomparable to now, but I had properly experienced the pattern of "involving stakeholders, reporting, getting consensus, and moving forward."

That's why, after joining the company, even though I was overwhelmed by the scale, I could think, "The essence of what I'm doing is the same." What I lacked were skills and knowledge, but I already had the framework for how to think. Because I could think that way, I feel like I was able to catch up desperately.

If I had 0 experience, I don't want to imagine what would have happened to me by now.

Ah, this is "imagination." Because you have experience, you can properly feel the fear. If it were fantasy, you wouldn't be able to accurately measure this gap, so I don't think you would feel afraid either.

One thing I want you to check before embellishing your resume

If there is anyone currently thinking about changing jobs, there is one thing I would like you to check.

Is the "embellishment" of that resume within the realm of imagination? Or is it in the realm of fantasy?

If you have even a little bit of experience, there is no need to sell yourself short. Stretching the truth to make 1 look like 10 can be bridged by your efforts after joining the company.

However, writing that you have "done" something you have never actually done is fantasy. Without even being able to realize what you are lacking after joining the company, you will find yourself full of excuses before you know it.

What is important is whether or not you have the resolve to genuinely catch up after joining the company by the amount you embellished.

Is your "embellishment" imagination? Or is it fantasy?

Summary

It is okay to embellish your resume. But the landscape after joining the company changes completely between the fantasy of 0 to 1 and the imagination of 1 to 10. If it is imagination, you can catch up. If it is fantasy, you will collapse.

I think being good at your job ultimately comes down to whether or not you can control the other party's expectations. How you respond to the expectations you have raised. Whether or not you have a foundation of experience there might be what makes the difference.

Well then, I will be heading out now.