Lying on your CV to get a better job
Discussion
I’ve just found out that a guy I interviewed and hired based upon his great experience has lied to me. Being that I am just a manager and do not own the company, and he’s actually turned out rather good and competent, I’m not going to say anything, but it really did get me thinking.
This guy turned up and claimed to have 3 years experience as a production manager in his previous post, I happened to find out through a mutual friend outside of work that he was in fact just a ‘cell leader’ for around 3 months before leaving. HR presumably sought appropriate references.
He’s now production manager where I work, doing a reasonably good job so far 3 months in, and no one suspects a thing. This guy has gone from a 25k p/a worker to a 45k p/a manager with private healthcare, company car allowance etc.
Is this a common thing? Have you ever known anyone successfully ‘blag’ or actually I guess fraud their way in to a good job?
This guy turned up and claimed to have 3 years experience as a production manager in his previous post, I happened to find out through a mutual friend outside of work that he was in fact just a ‘cell leader’ for around 3 months before leaving. HR presumably sought appropriate references.
He’s now production manager where I work, doing a reasonably good job so far 3 months in, and no one suspects a thing. This guy has gone from a 25k p/a worker to a 45k p/a manager with private healthcare, company car allowance etc.
Is this a common thing? Have you ever known anyone successfully ‘blag’ or actually I guess fraud their way in to a good job?
There is massaging a CV, exaggerating, etc..
But 3 months as a cell leader saying you’ve got 3 years as production manager under your belt? Cell leader is just usually someone to go to as a point of contact and make sure paperwork is organised for the supervisors while still working themselves. A production manager is usually involved in much more like cost control/budgets and production forecasting, scheduling, HR related stuff...
That’s a massive lie. Fair play to the bloke though. Having been both a cell leader and also moved up to production manager in the past, there’s no way I could’ve ever jumped in to a role like that after 3 months of the former.
But 3 months as a cell leader saying you’ve got 3 years as production manager under your belt? Cell leader is just usually someone to go to as a point of contact and make sure paperwork is organised for the supervisors while still working themselves. A production manager is usually involved in much more like cost control/budgets and production forecasting, scheduling, HR related stuff...
That’s a massive lie. Fair play to the bloke though. Having been both a cell leader and also moved up to production manager in the past, there’s no way I could’ve ever jumped in to a role like that after 3 months of the former.
Lying on a CV to deliberately misrepresent oneself could be considered fraud.
There are numerous examples of some very high profile employees lying and then getting found out:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-ceo-not-alone-7-e...
There are numerous examples of some very high profile employees lying and then getting found out:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-ceo-not-alone-7-e...
Don’t you think fibbing or exaggerating is a bit different to a massive whopping lie though? Entry level employee pretending to be top of the tree...
I would quite like a job closer to home in another industry, and I’ve been trying for a while with little success, but I don’t think I could completely bulls
t on my CV to make it happen. Of course, I tailor and focus my CV to exaggerate certain transferable skills, but to completely fabricate job titles and experience seems a bit risky.
I would quite like a job closer to home in another industry, and I’ve been trying for a while with little success, but I don’t think I could completely bulls
t on my CV to make it happen. Of course, I tailor and focus my CV to exaggerate certain transferable skills, but to completely fabricate job titles and experience seems a bit risky. I’ve seen ex-work colleagues people’s job histories on LinkedIn and can’t quite believe what they are publicly quoting is their experience. One in particular claimed to be a successful project manager yet the girl sat next to him for 12 months said she had no idea what this “project manager” actually did, apart from his M.Sc. coursework.
I’ve seen ex-work colleague’s CVs when offered to proof read them. I would say on this alone that 2/3rds of people certainly glam it up. One drops the shorter contracts, as it doesn’t look great on the CV, and extends the better sounding ones…
When interviewing engineers I go on the principle that at least 30% of those being interviewed are lying to me. It doesn’t take long to find the facts.
I think most HR functions don’t chase up the references. I think they are just glad to have another hamster to turn the wheel in that department for that money.
I’ve seen ex-work colleague’s CVs when offered to proof read them. I would say on this alone that 2/3rds of people certainly glam it up. One drops the shorter contracts, as it doesn’t look great on the CV, and extends the better sounding ones…
When interviewing engineers I go on the principle that at least 30% of those being interviewed are lying to me. It doesn’t take long to find the facts.
I think most HR functions don’t chase up the references. I think they are just glad to have another hamster to turn the wheel in that department for that money.
grumbledoak said:
I'm quite sure people do it. It's instant dismissal if you're caught though. That's a lot to have hanging over you.
Is it?If I found out someone who worked for me had lied on their CV I would check how good they were at their job. I wouldn't sack someone and go to the expense of replacement if they were doing okay. If they were crap, I'd use the fake CV as the reason.
So said:
Is it?
If I found out someone who worked for me had lied on their CV I would check how good they were at their job. I wouldn't sack someone and go to the expense of replacement if they were doing okay. If they were crap, I'd use the fake CV as the reason.
I didn't say it was mandatory. But if they want rid of you for any reason at all you've handed them an unassailable one.If I found out someone who worked for me had lied on their CV I would check how good they were at their job. I wouldn't sack someone and go to the expense of replacement if they were doing okay. If they were crap, I'd use the fake CV as the reason.
That seems like the sort of lie that should have been easy to spot during the gathering of references. "Can you confirm X held the role of Y between these dates". Would check your procedures OP!
If they're good at the job then I'd probably keep them after a warning chat. I've interviewed people who had lied on their CV about qualifications and I tend to stop the interview at that point. In this case there might be some middle ground, maybe he was picking up those responsibilities but just didn't have the formal title?
If they're good at the job then I'd probably keep them after a warning chat. I've interviewed people who had lied on their CV about qualifications and I tend to stop the interview at that point. In this case there might be some middle ground, maybe he was picking up those responsibilities but just didn't have the formal title?
grumbledoak said:
I didn't say it was mandatory. But if they want rid of you for any reason at all you've handed them an unassailable one.
How would they prove it, most references just ask minimal detail. I've know managers with years of experience look like a right wazzock. Most of my managers have been useless, like I said a lot of managers just have the title, zero actual management skills. Blah for a better life, we are not talking about heart surgeons, we are talking about production.JohnsMCS said:
I’ve just found out that a guy I interviewed and hired based upon his great experience has lied to me. Being that I am just a manager and do not own the company, and he’s actually turned out rather good and competent, I’m not going to say anything, but it really did get me thinking.
This guy turned up and claimed to have 3 years experience as a production manager in his previous post, I happened to find out through a mutual friend outside of work that he was in fact just a ‘cell leader’ for around 3 months before leaving. HR presumably sought appropriate references.
He’s now production manager where I work, doing a reasonably good job so far 3 months in, and no one suspects a thing. This guy has gone from a 25k p/a worker to a 45k p/a manager with private healthcare, company car allowance etc.
Is this a common thing? Have you ever known anyone successfully ‘blag’ or actually I guess fraud their way in to a good job?
The problem is one of integrity. This guy turned up and claimed to have 3 years experience as a production manager in his previous post, I happened to find out through a mutual friend outside of work that he was in fact just a ‘cell leader’ for around 3 months before leaving. HR presumably sought appropriate references.
He’s now production manager where I work, doing a reasonably good job so far 3 months in, and no one suspects a thing. This guy has gone from a 25k p/a worker to a 45k p/a manager with private healthcare, company car allowance etc.
Is this a common thing? Have you ever known anyone successfully ‘blag’ or actually I guess fraud their way in to a good job?
Would you have employed him based on the truth?
Because he lied do you trust him?
You've got someone doing the job, you know that he's not trustworthy, so you know to obtain proof about anything he says, not to trust him financial decisions. And if you ever want rid of him, you've got a free reason.
I've heard of worse lies, including being in prison for sexual assault but saying they were self building a house.
Lasted 3 weeks before someone on the shop floor came to HR with a cutting from an old newspaper.
Another who said he'd been something important at a small car company and then took back handers for waste removal contracts
JohnsMCS said:
I’ve just found out that a guy I interviewed and hired based upon his great experience has lied to me. Being that I am just a manager and do not own the company, and he’s actually turned out rather good and competent, I’m not going to say anything, but it really did get me thinking.
This guy turned up and claimed to have 3 years experience as a production manager in his previous post, I happened to find out through a mutual friend outside of work that he was in fact just a ‘cell leader’ for around 3 months before leaving. HR presumably sought appropriate references.
He’s now production manager where I work, doing a reasonably good job so far 3 months in, and no one suspects a thing. This guy has gone from a 25k p/a worker to a 45k p/a manager with private healthcare, company car allowance etc.
Is this a common thing? Have you ever known anyone successfully ‘blag’ or actually I guess fraud their way in to a good job?
OP you need to be very careful here. Could anyone find out that you knew about this deception? If it is possible then you need to consider that you might get dragged down with him. If your managers find out you knew & didn't disclose it then you could be dimissed as well as him. This guy turned up and claimed to have 3 years experience as a production manager in his previous post, I happened to find out through a mutual friend outside of work that he was in fact just a ‘cell leader’ for around 3 months before leaving. HR presumably sought appropriate references.
He’s now production manager where I work, doing a reasonably good job so far 3 months in, and no one suspects a thing. This guy has gone from a 25k p/a worker to a 45k p/a manager with private healthcare, company car allowance etc.
Is this a common thing? Have you ever known anyone successfully ‘blag’ or actually I guess fraud their way in to a good job?
Mr Pointy said:
OP you need to be very careful here. Could anyone find out that you knew about this deception? If it is possible then you need to consider that you might get dragged down with him. If your managers find out you knew & didn't disclose it then you could be dimissed as well as him.
You make a good point. 
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