I want you to write down all of your most positive attributes in a single Word document. However, you cannot use all of the space — you must use bullets and spaces between all sub-points and categories in order to make the page aesthetically pleasing and easy to scan over.

I would like main points such as topic organizers and your personal information in bold, using a font size larger than the rest. Oh, and the rest has to be 12-point font and nothing smaller.

Not to make matters worse, but you will be judged entirely on this one piece of paper. The difference between possibly landing a paid internship at a renowned company and working at the local pizza joint may depend on this resume. What I want are your life accomplishments on this paper, which very well may determine the rest of your life accomplishments.

Nervous to hand in your resume? Not feeling adequate to compete in the ever more competitive job market? Just lie then. Fib a little. According to careerbuilder.com, 38 percent of those who had taken a survey indicated they had exaggerated on their job responsibilities. Approximately 18 percent admitted to lying about their skill set, 10 percent about their academic degree and 5 percent said they had been untruthful about their job title. Of these groups, 36 percent were considered for hire, while 6 percent of the fibbers were actually hired.

As college students, we are either beginning our professional resumes or fattening them up with internships and extracurricular activities. But even with the ample resume-building programs available, students are still tweaking the facts a bit.

A friend of mine — who will go unnamed — said half jokingly how he joined a biological science club, attended the first meeting or two, got on the club’s emailing list and then never bothered to show up again. But he did make sure to list the club on his resume as an extracurricular activity.

As the public relations chair of the Classical Literature Club, I witness this occurrence first hand. Seventy students receive emails and notifications as participating members, but only a dozen are active members who show up to meetings and participate in the organization. No doubt a majority of these students have the club listed under activities on their resume, but haven’t attended even a handful of meetings.

Erin Jobman, the public relations chairwoman of the Pre-Vet Club, can attest to this. She estimates that by the spring semesters, there are around 250 members, but only 30 students are still actively involved.

Does it matter that these students say they are involved in an organization they are not? To some, probably not. But to those who run the organizations or are involved members, it isn’t fair to see someone fatten up his or her resume by listing a club they don’t attend. The active members do all of the work maintaining and establishing the club, while the others simply take credit for being a part of it.

Not only is it unfair, but it increases the pressure on honest students. Someone who doesn’t participate in an organization, but is still a member, has a lot of time to be a member of other programs. Suddenly, this individual is a super student who is involved in all sorts of activities and still manages to keep up his grades. Whether employers would buy it or not, that I can’t say, but I feel that if even a few were to get away with it, it would put those who are honestly committed to groups at a disadvantage.

What’s worse is that those who lie on their resumes, as far as I could find, face no penalty. The only consequence they might face is the embarrassment of being caught, as well as not getting the job, which is something an honest applicant might face if his application is turned down due to an inadequate resume. The rewards for lying on a resume are a lot greater than the repercussions.

I care about this because I believe in the integrity of being an honest human being. Though I am aware that certain employers will do background checks on resumes anyway, I find it upsetting — but imminent — that people resort to lying on their resume in order to increase their chances of being selected.

What then, you might ask, constitutes someone as a member of a group and worthy to list the club on their ever important resume? I would say an attendance to group meetings that exceeds 50 percent. However, I realize that schedules don’t always line up, so the definition of a member would be left for the group to decide.

As I mentioned before, resumes are a vital part of obtaining a job, and in a competitive job market, any morsel of an advantage makes a world of difference. Therefore, instead of lying, students should sharpen their resumes with other tactics rather than just loading them with activities. Catering the resume to the position for which one is applying, being the first to turn it in and focusing on positive accomplishments with tangible results are all tips most students know, but are things that can make a huge difference.

Instead of compiling a list of numerous activities and memberships that don’t mean much, focus on being active in a smaller number of groups and becoming an officer or titled member.

Whatever you do, make sure to regard those who actually put time and energy into an organization before you list it on a resume. No one appreciates a liar, even if it may just seem like stretching the truth to you.