LinkedIn has become an indispensable tool for the modern recruiter – it is a channel that showcases candidates and highlights their experience and skills. As executive search recruiters, we use the platform daily and we encounter lots of people who market themselves excellently, and others who, despite it being a public platform, bend the truth.

Examples of this can range from small omissions and slightly disingenuous details to outright fictional statements on a profile. Here are a few of the most common examples of dishonesty we have come across on LinkedIn and how you can avoid being accused of dishonesty.

Old Photos

Not having an up-to-date photo on your LinkedIn profile can be incredibly misleading. While you don’t think you need to update it very often, it should at least be from the last few years, so it gives an accurate reflection of how you look now.

Your photo doesn’t have to be a professional headshot either. Photos of you on holiday or even a professional ‘selfie’ is fine. Your should avoid AI generated images too as this can be misleading and make you look like you have a fake profile.

Missing Career Steps

Sometimes when a role doesn’t work out and an individual leaves a company on bad terms, it can be tempting for them to leave it out of their list of roles on their LinkedIn profile. This kind of dishonesty never pays – it’s quite common for people to have ups and downs in a career, and it’s better to be upfront about this rather than trying to hide it and be found out as a liar further down the line.

Great recruiters will ask you why you left each role and what you have learned from those situations. Including all your ups and downs allows for in depth conversations so people can better understand your motivations for other opportunities.

Incorrect Job Titles

Deliberately altering a previous job title to make the role sound more impressive can backfire. It can lead to damage of reputation including loss of trust and reputation in the industry. Current and previous colleagues have visibility of your profile and embellishing your job title can quickly negatively impact your network.

In addition, when looking for new role employers often conduct thorough background checks. Discrepancies between your LinkedIn profile and official records or references can result in immediate disqualification from the hiring process. It can lead to interview questions about specific responsibilities and achievements. If you cannot substantiate your claims, it will reflect poorly on your integrity.

Trust is critically important to a recruiter, and LinkedIn becomes problematic when there is limited trust in what people are saying about themselves.

While the Oakstone team all make regular use of LinkedIn when conducting hires, we would never solely rely on it to select suitable candidates for a role. Instead, we have a thorough, structured methodology which involves in-depth research, phone contact and face-to-face interviews, and this ensures we don’t fall foul of individuals who misrepresent or overstate their achievements and competencies on their LinkedIn profiles.

It’s surely not limited to LinkedIn either; we must all remember that there is little or no policing of any social sites – people can create virtually fictional characters online if they choose to do so!