Have you ever lied on your CV? Were you found out?

[Shirleyphallus]

I’m in the process of applying for jobs and am keeping to the letter of the law on qualifications / results etc as I’m terrified of being found out for embellishing it somehow!

Has anyone ever lied on their cv and if so, what was the outcome?

I present the work I've done in the most positive light, and generally run jobs to the nearest month for ease of use. I was advised by the head of recruitment at a very large company that everything to do with job applications should be as close to lying as it can be without actually lying. I think I've got every job I applied for since I had that advice!!

I’ve left a couple of GCSEs off as I have 8 A/As and then two Cs. Prefer to list 8 A/A grades as it’s shorter and the two Cs aren’t important (General Studies and Art, so definitely not relevant!) But nothing substantial.

The deputy head of my school in the 80s left to be head of another school, then moved again.

She not only had no teaching qualifications but no degree and had failed A level in the subject she taught.

Slightly switching grades up I could understand but how do you get away with making up whole jobs?!

^^
not difficult if you work abroad, for example

Exam grades and all qualifications are checked by bringing original certificates to interview. We cross match with photo ID.

How can your cross match with ID? I've a different name now to the one listed on my exam certificates anyway.

I've never lied, but I'm aware how easy it might be - I've never been asked for degree certificates and my PhD programme accepted me without my MA graduation certification, which is handy because I never graduated (I passed, but I didn't pay my library fines so couldn't graduate).

My aunt (mother's sister) had the same full name as my grandmother before my aunt got married. They both took O'levels at the same time - grandma as a mature student. Grandma passed, aunt didn't, but the both claimed the qualifications and used the certificates as proof.

Someone I know lied about his GCSE and A level results to get into University. He left with a first so while I feel it's wrong, I also think good for him!

How can your cross match with ID? I've a different name now to the one listed on my exam certificates anyway.

I've always had to provide my marriage certificate as well as my ID, presumably to prove that my exam certificates actually relate to me.

Advice I was given when updating my CV was to only put the year you worked at a job, not the month. So I left one job in 2014 and started a new job in 2015. I left out the fact the job ended in Nov 2014, and the new one started in Feb 2015.
However, I'm not lying and if anyone asks I would provide the exact dates.

What I have left off my current CV is a job a did between those two dates for 7 weeks. It has no bearing on my experience, it was a horrible job where the manager sacked me to cover up her failings (she only lasted a few more months before they figured it all out), and I would never get a reference from them anyway.

Jobs like teaching with very clear safeguarding practices require pretty detailed employment histories, and any gaps in employment must be accounted for.

I don't understand why people need GCSE certificates when you say have a degree that you needed GCSEs to do?

No, I've never lied on my c.v. I wouldn't want it hanging over me (both the dishonesty and the fear of being dismissed for lying). It just isn't worth it.

Still, it's surprising how many people do lie or exaggerate. Years ago I worked in recruitment and we did background checks on all candidates (in the days when background checks weren't the norm). I still remember finding out that one candidate was the security guard rather than the company accountant (as he claimed he was!) at his employer.

I moved into Project Management and was one of the interviewers at a hiring evening (rounds of panel interviews so candidates would have 3 back-to-back interviews and then have a decision the next day). On my way into the office (I'd popped out to get a snack), I bumped into a software developer who'd worked with me on a project at a previous employer. Turns out he was attending the hiring evening (although he didn't mention this). At the panel discussion/feedback session at the end, when he was discussed it turned out that he'd said he was the Project Manager for a fairly high profile project at his current (and my former) employer. Unfortunately for him, I was the Project Manager, not him. He didn't get the job obviously. It was a silly lie and without it he probably would have got a job offer. To this day he doesn't know why he was rejected. I've come across a lot of this where people exaggerate on their c.v. and it costs them dear, although they never realise. My industry isn't a particularly small one but people talk (and move jobs a lot) so it's very foolish to exaggerate. And lying is just downright foolish.

We want full history to the day with gaps explained.

We want all exams certified with original as it makes it harder to use forgeries. You might pay out for a degree certificate but to pay from GCSE, A Level, degrees, postgraduate and professionals certificates to be forged would be much more expensive.

We use photo ID with any proof of name change, such as marriage certificate or deed poll.

HR then map the qualifications against the application form information to make sure it adds up with no gaps and no inconsistencies. DBS checks help complete the profile.

Any anomalies can are checked out with previous employers or awarding bodies before a job is offered. It’s infuriating sometimes as it’s quite a lengthy application process and we lose potentially good staff because of it. We just have to be absolutely sure our people are beyond reproach.

I’m sure it’s not necessarily so rigorous in say a coffee shop or taxi firm though.

Checking has got VERY rigorous in recent years, for contractors as well as perms. Why risk it? We have sacked people and retracted offers for otherwise great candidates in screening when fact checking has failed. We talk direct to educational establishments also to confirm.

Integrity is a core business value and lying at the start means you are a bit wobbly on this!

cherry looks like we have similar processes :) It is frustrating when it takes ages though!

I think it entirely depends on the profession/job role.

Anything that requires a degree, qualification, training or experience you should never lie, it would likely be checked at interviews and would be a sackable offensive if you got away with it.

For jobs that require no qualifications or training such as retail or admin it’s fairly easy to get away with as experience is usually ‘preferred but not essential’ and qualifications are not necessary.

The last job I had before self employment had some sort of quality system where they contacted all of the previous employers in my entire history. It was a nightmare because one company had gone bankrupt, another was one I'd worked at 20 years ago and had changed ownership, and another had closed their office in this region with just the head office to refer to.

Somehow they still managed to confirm my employment history, but it seemed like such a faff. Thank goodness I didn't lie about it!

So, similar to others, I've not lied on my cv but I have been vague about dates. However, since those dates were in the mid90s and I've had exactly two jobs continually since 1999 that I can date very precisely down to the day, I'm sure that me fudging the details of a three month Christmas temp job in a store that no longer even exists isnt going to bring about my eventual downfall!

I'm intrigued as to where treaclesoda and other similar posters work that have to account for exact dates etc. Is it MI6?!

I worked with one guy who claimed his previous job was at a higher level than it really was and that he was joining us to progress further (won't give details as it's too outing). He was awful at the job and, on consulting his previous employers HR discovered he was only a junior assistant widget counter and not, as he claimed, a senior widget auditor. He was sacked on the spot. The real fall out though was when senior management demanded an explanation from HR as to how he got a job with us in the first place. Our HR Director was gone within 6 months!

I tell the truth about all my qualifications but I've never been asked to prove them or show any certificates so even someone had lied they'd never know. Who are all these people who check 20 years of employment history to the day?

And I tell the truth about my degree which I worked hard for, but so many students cheat these days that how do you know an applicant's degree was fairly earned? I know of at least one or two people who used paid essay writing services so their degree means nothing even if they have the certificate.

I have been a bit generous with grades but that's it. Can't say I was ever found out but now have a masters so no one would really care that I only got B&Cs at school lol

Lieing is a whole different ball game

Were you being ironic?

The jobs I applied for that wanted dates to the exact day were all in financial services.

Every other job I've ever applied for still wanted my entire work history, plus GCSE results (often quoting the examination board), and then for those to be backed up with certificates.

I'm in N Ireland, and all this stuff is standard, no matter what level the job is at. The application form for my current job was 26 pages long...and it's the same process whether you are applying to be receptionist or chief executive.

Not lied, but in the past I've certainly fudged dates in my employment history. How on earth are you expected to remember the exact date you left a temporary job in a shop fifteen years ago for example?