What is importance of author listings when resumé/CV differs from actual publication? In examining published papers of employment applicants, I am noticing that authorship position shown on the resumé/CV (first, second, third authors, etc.) do not match those shown in the published papers. Is this significant? The field is cognitive neuroscience. My applicants are often shown as First Author on their CV, but not on the published papers. Is this significant in any way?
In general, author position must be the same on a CV as it is in the official publication. Changing author position on the CV is generally deceptive. In particular, first authorship often conveys a greater role on a publication. So this may suggest the applicant is trying to indicate that they had a greater role in the publication than they did.

That said, it seems like a rather strange thing for an applicant to do. If someone is going for an academic job, it is common that the employer would have a look at a few publications. Thus, it would quickly become evident that CV and publication differ in author-order. And this would typically be perceived poorly by the employer.

A common and better strategy is to bold or star your own name in the CV (and perhaps the names of students you have supervised). This makes it easier for a reader of a CV to scan author position.