Dodgy Linkedin Profile
Discussion
A guy i interviewed for a job a couple of years ago has popped up on my Linkedin feed.
I didn't give him a job as he came across badly on the interview, and it turned out to be the right decision as he was arrested soon after for fraud and eventually got a 15 month suspended sentence.
The thing is, that while his Linkedin profile makes (predictably) no mention of his previous conviction, it does make mention of numerous blue-chip companies (Lotus F1, BMW, Mercedes, KPMG, Microsoft) that he says he has worked for. The funny thing is that none of this valuable work experience was ever mentioned on the CV he supplied to me. To say it is a bit fishy is an understatement.
Anything I can do? LinkedIn only allows reporting profiles for pretending to be someone else, or for being a bot.
TBH his conviction for fraud is his own business, but the fabrication of an entire history of employment is somewhat worrying.
I didn't give him a job as he came across badly on the interview, and it turned out to be the right decision as he was arrested soon after for fraud and eventually got a 15 month suspended sentence.
The thing is, that while his Linkedin profile makes (predictably) no mention of his previous conviction, it does make mention of numerous blue-chip companies (Lotus F1, BMW, Mercedes, KPMG, Microsoft) that he says he has worked for. The funny thing is that none of this valuable work experience was ever mentioned on the CV he supplied to me. To say it is a bit fishy is an understatement.
Anything I can do? LinkedIn only allows reporting profiles for pretending to be someone else, or for being a bot.
TBH his conviction for fraud is his own business, but the fabrication of an entire history of employment is somewhat worrying.
boyse7en said:
A guy i interviewed for a job a couple of years ago has popped up on my Linkedin feed.
I didn't give him a job as he came across badly on the interview, and it turned out to be the right decision as he was arrested soon after for fraud and eventually got a 15 month suspended sentence.
The thing is, that while his Linkedin profile makes (predictably) no mention of his previous conviction, it does make mention of numerous blue-chip companies (Lotus F1, BMW, Mercedes, KPMG, Microsoft) that he says he has worked for. The funny thing is that none of this valuable work experience was ever mentioned on the CV he supplied to me. To say it is a bit fishy is an understatement.
Anything I can do? LinkedIn only allows reporting profiles for pretending to be someone else, or for being a bot.
TBH his conviction for fraud is his own business, but the fabrication of an entire history of employment is somewhat worrying.
LinkedIn is no different to lying on his CV. Which many people do unfortunately.I didn't give him a job as he came across badly on the interview, and it turned out to be the right decision as he was arrested soon after for fraud and eventually got a 15 month suspended sentence.
The thing is, that while his Linkedin profile makes (predictably) no mention of his previous conviction, it does make mention of numerous blue-chip companies (Lotus F1, BMW, Mercedes, KPMG, Microsoft) that he says he has worked for. The funny thing is that none of this valuable work experience was ever mentioned on the CV he supplied to me. To say it is a bit fishy is an understatement.
Anything I can do? LinkedIn only allows reporting profiles for pretending to be someone else, or for being a bot.
TBH his conviction for fraud is his own business, but the fabrication of an entire history of employment is somewhat worrying.
I'm not sure there is much you can do - short of checking if you have any common contacts and let them know privately.
If he has lied that extensively, he will come unstuck more than not as soon as he is interviewed.
The first thing I do when interviewing is contact people I know at previous companies to find out about the person I'm interviewing when we have common connections.
Assuming he is getting to interviews, it'll be obvious he has lied when probed I think (well I would like to think)
boyse7en said:
A guy i interviewed for a job a couple of years ago has popped up on my Linkedin feed.
I didn't give him a job as he came across badly on the interview, and it turned out to be the right decision as he was arrested soon after for fraud and eventually got a 15 month suspended sentence.
The thing is, that while his Linkedin profile makes (predictably) no mention of his previous conviction, it does make mention of numerous blue-chip companies (Lotus F1, BMW, Mercedes, KPMG, Microsoft) that he says he has worked for. The funny thing is that none of this valuable work experience was ever mentioned on the CV he supplied to me. To say it is a bit fishy is an understatement.
Anything I can do? LinkedIn only allows reporting profiles for pretending to be someone else, or for being a bot.
TBH his conviction for fraud is his own business, but the fabrication of an entire history of employment is somewhat worrying.
Nothing you can do about it.I didn't give him a job as he came across badly on the interview, and it turned out to be the right decision as he was arrested soon after for fraud and eventually got a 15 month suspended sentence.
The thing is, that while his Linkedin profile makes (predictably) no mention of his previous conviction, it does make mention of numerous blue-chip companies (Lotus F1, BMW, Mercedes, KPMG, Microsoft) that he says he has worked for. The funny thing is that none of this valuable work experience was ever mentioned on the CV he supplied to me. To say it is a bit fishy is an understatement.
Anything I can do? LinkedIn only allows reporting profiles for pretending to be someone else, or for being a bot.
TBH his conviction for fraud is his own business, but the fabrication of an entire history of employment is somewhat worrying.
The thing with CVs is that many are padded to some degree. They might have been mildly tweaked or they might be full of 98% military grade 23-carat bull droppings. I have seen CVs of people who worked for me as Finance assistants whereas if you read their CV you'd think they'd been heads of finance. But there's nothing you can do, other than make sure that if you are asked to give a reference it's accurate.
Padding LinkedIn is not much different to padding CVs except that there's more chance of a past employer seeing it.
Someone who used to work for the same company as me committed sufficient fraught to be given a free holiday with Her Maj.
After he was released, he applied for jobs elsewhere in the same industry. Strangely, he listed his previous employment, including that with us, but for the time that he was on his enforced sabbatical, his CV stated that he had been "running his own company".
He applied for, and was offered, a role with another company in my sector, but unbeknown to him, one of my old school friends works there. Said friend dropped me a line to ask about their new recruit. I don't think he actually got as far as starting once the truth was out.
After he was released, he applied for jobs elsewhere in the same industry. Strangely, he listed his previous employment, including that with us, but for the time that he was on his enforced sabbatical, his CV stated that he had been "running his own company".
He applied for, and was offered, a role with another company in my sector, but unbeknown to him, one of my old school friends works there. Said friend dropped me a line to ask about their new recruit. I don't think he actually got as far as starting once the truth was out.
Hard to get a permanent job at a reputable place these days without a background check. They check your specific job role at previous employers. Although you can fudge what you did, and it seems employers don't bother to talk to previous managers anymore - it's just the faceless HR function.
And nothing stops people giving their mate's number for a reference. How would you know?
Short read, how this sort of behaviour can cause damage particularly to small businesses
https://www.marketingeye.com.au/marketing-blog/mar...
And nothing stops people giving their mate's number for a reference. How would you know?
Short read, how this sort of behaviour can cause damage particularly to small businesses
https://www.marketingeye.com.au/marketing-blog/mar...
Edited by silent ninja on Thursday 18th October 22:12
hantsxlg said:
This is why serious companies do serious back ground checks on perms, and contractors before they are allowed to get in the building....
to be fair Hants - I've had one three background checks in the last 25 years - I've worked in maybe...........12 places (I'd have to check). All big blue chip type companies.The ones that checked were a MoD company, an investment bank and an insurance company
I have always viewed linkedin as a "look at me" page. Never used it for anything other than a mild laugh if I am honest. Yet to find anyone on linkedin that was "just" a labourer or similar. Seen lots of project managers though. (hence the laugh, when you were involved in the some of the projects and know what their actual roles were.)
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