Any job applicant these days should be prepared for at least a minimum amount of pre-employment screening when applying for a job. Lying or inflating on a résumé is not a good idea.

Any good human resources manager will take your job application and verify the information you wrote.  Probably the three biggest mistakes people make on applications (whether intentional or not) is extending dates of employment with past employers (claiming you worked somewhere longer than you did); inflating your salary (saying you made more money than you did); and the number one lie is usually related to educational background.  People foolishly say on job applications that they have either gone to college or have degrees (or have degrees greater than what was earned).  What the average job applicant doesn’t seem to realize is that this information is easily confirmed or denied with one phone call to the listed school’s registrar’s office.

Another factor any good human resources manager will investigate, before making you a job offer, will be substance abuse.  Employers are routinely caught in bad hire situations by not using this simple pre-hire tool.  The market today allows employers to choose from a variety of on-site drug tests.  One type is a urine test where the results are immediately known and don’t require extensive lab work.  Another type is the cheek swab drug test.  This drug test requires you to put a sterile swab in your mouth.  It is left in place until the swab is soaked with your saliva.  Afterward, you press the tip of the swab into a small hole on a plastic receptacle (similar to the home pregnancy test stick).  Your saliva reacts with a chemically treated strip, and gives a distinct color if you have drugs in your body.

Employers are getting more pro-active because of liability issues.  You should be smart, too, and always tell the truth on a job application – failure to do so may disqualify you from a job you really want.