This is the #1 mistake I see while editing resumes of high-performing applicants. These are your typical Type A candidates who truly have achievements in the top 1 or top 5%, but they also have experiences as individual contributors that are not as significant. But it had a huge impact on the learning curve and their growth as a specialist.
I see 3 insecurities that are driving the exaggeration.
1) Age - Lower than 27
If you are right at the border between 25 and 26, you are not certain whether your 2 years of experience will be comparable to applicants with 3-5 years of experience.
The easiest fix is to exaggerate the scale of the performance, typically comparing with peers.
It makes sense to demonstrate your high competence, but you must be careful not to convert all the entries in succession with the Top 1% or the Youngest or the only person to do x, y, or z.
You can space it out in the resume and keep all the unique achievements that make you competitive.
2) Lack of Context - No Meaningful Value
When applicants sign up for our resume editing service, the first draft lacks context. This is not entirely an applicant’s fault.
If you are coming from Technology or Finance, most of your interactions are with peers from the same industry or clients in the industry.
There is a certain vocabulary that is common in your industry and might have become Jargon.
You might not notice this, but when you are applying to a General Management program like an MBA whose reviewers need not be from your industry, you must be extra careful not to use Jargon or remove context.
Removing context is worse than Jargon.
Sometimes you assume an industry outsider understands the complexity of the project, the constraints, or the uniqueness of your solution.
Instead of just using action verbs, you can add context to demonstrate why your achievement was unique.
3) GMAT/GRE Score - Below Class Median
When your GMAT or GRE score is 10-20% below the class median, it is natural to feel a bit insecure and try to accentuate your achievements. But if you have impressive volunteering either in your company or with a non-profit, you don’t have to worry too much about the 10-20 point difference from the class median.
Make sure that you get the right supervisors to validate your achievements.
If you were working in one company, then one supervisor who has seen your growth could compensate for the narrative, while the volunteering or the extra-curricular narrative from another supervisor can add additional context about your problem-solving, extraversion, and long-term thinking.
The entries should be simplified but not too simple to question the reviewer’s intelligence or lose the IMPACT of your achievement.
