You want to apply for a job, but you fall a bit short in terms of your experience or education. Or perhaps you don't have a particular skill that a potential employer wants a job candidate to have. You may think to yourself, “Why not just make something up?” After all, it would only be a little white lie. What if you said you had a bachelor's degree when you are only twelve credits short of graduating? No one would ever know — or would they?

A small lie on your resume, one that makes you appear more qualified for the job, might get you a job interview. You may even get a job offer without anyone finding out about it. Then you might have to consent to a background check or pre-employment screening. Oops. Easy come, easy go.

Let's say the employer doesn't do a background check. After all, they are expensive to do. So, the employer hires you. You start working for her. A few months later the truth comes out, as truth often does. Will your new boss look at you and say, “You know what, Bob? We love you anyway. We want you to stay. You've proven yourself to be a great employee, even without those twelve credits”? It is highly unlikely that would happen because what is at issue here is not the lie you told, but rather the fact that you lied. Your boss's trust in you will be broken.

If you think you are qualified for a job in spite of being slightly short of meeting all the requirements that an employer has laid out, then be honest about it. Send a cover letter that clearly explains why you think you are qualified for the job regardless of not meeting that one qualification. Play up qualifications you do have, and downplay that one you do not have. You may not get hired — or you may. Even if you do not get the job, you'll still have your integrity.