The Spokesman-Review

January 31, 1999

NO CURE IN SIGHT FOR THE EPIDEMIC OF RESUME FIBBING

Workers vying for high-paying information technology jobs increasingly are doctoring their resumes in hopes of gaining an edge over the competition.

A study by Michael G. Kessler & Associates Ltd. of New York found that 25 percent of 1,000 resumes were fraudulent in some way. The two most common exaggerations: job responsibilities and past salaries. In some cases, job-seekers used fake documents to support their claims.

Upgrading skills

ITT Technical Institute plans to launch a new Associate of Applied Science degree program in Computer Network Systems Technology. Institute Director William King says the course was developed in response to the nationwide shortage of workers with specialized technical skills. The two-year program explores various computer operating systems and programming languages, as well as global system integration, network system design and implementation of network systems. Classes begin March 8 at 1050 N. Argonne.

Diminishing deduction

Lower gasoline prices and relatively stable costs for buying a new car have prompted the Internal Revenue Service to lower the standard deduction you can take for driving a car on business. The 1999 rate, for travel starting April 1, will be 31 cents a mile, compared with a 1998 rate of 32.5 cents a mile. The standard was developed for the IRS by Runzheimer International, a management-consulting firm that specializes in travel and living costs.

Baby, it's cold outside

Pity the poor workers whose jobs keep them out in the cold during harsh winter weather. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA, says that dressing properly is the best way for those workers to avoid hypothermia, which claims 700 lives each year in the United

States. The federal agency also recommends that employers bring workers inside at regular intervals, provide additional heat sources and set up systems to check more frequently on people working in the cold. The agency has published a fact sheet on "Protecting Workers in Cold Environments." You can find the fact sheet at the agency's Web site -- http://www.osha.gov -- on the publication page, under fact sheets.

Betcha didn't know

Fortune 500 companies each spend an average of $ 14 million per year on fax transmissions.