I lied on job application ...

[righsaidlead]

Basically I'm going to be flamed and probably deserve it.
Due to illness I hadn't had a job in 6 years.
I have jobs in the past obviously admin /office work.
I have decent grades including a levels

I applied for a job as room attendant for premier inn
I have an interview but on my application I said in 2007 I worked at travel lodge for two years .
As the application said they prefer previous experience

Do you think if I get the job I will suffer because of no experience?
Or do you think I will be okay ?

Are they going to ask for a reference from the made up job? I'd be really careful if I was you, if you are found out you'll be fired on the spot

You probably won't get the job as I'd imagine it would be blindingly obvious that you haven't worked in the industry before when they ask you about it at the interview.

I appreciate you wanted to appear more relevant but it seems like such a daft lie as it's so easy to find out you're not telling the truth.

It will probably depend how quickly you can get the hang of actually doing it if you get the job but I'm not sure what you'd say if they bring up work experience in interview

Please don't take this the wrong way, OP, but I'm not sure how deeply they'll check into your background for a job as a room attendant.

I'm also not sure they'll bother hunting down a reference for a job you had 17 years ago.

If you do get it and you're not brilliant at it, I don't think your line manager will instantly think "@righsaidlead obviously lied on her application about having done this before". I suspect s/he will, instead, think "@righsaidlead Is a bit slow at this but no wonder because she last did the job 17 years ago"

I wouldn't worry about it. Seriously, I wouldn't give it a second thought.

But if you're called for interview, make sure you've researched the job role so that you can answer basic questions and make it look like you've some familiarity with the role. Also have some stock answers to questions about your experience from 2007.

Good luck, OP.

Is a 'Room attendant' a cleaner??

hopefully they won't ask for a reference, but it is really stupid to lie on a job application as if you're found out it makes you look completely untrustworthy & that's important in most jobs. Especially when you're in clients private spaces.

good luck getting the job 🤞🏼

@TonyTigerKindaSexy no I didn't take it the wrong way at all don't worry
I thought surely I could pick up the role pretty fast
I spend a lifetime cleaning up after kids etc
I would of liked to get back into admin work but I've been struggling since having time off
I thought get back in this way and get something on my cv and hope I can get back into the admin again

@KatiesMumWoof yeah pretty much a cleaner with a different name
That's stupidly why I thought I could bend the truth a little

Not ideal as been caught lying on an application form is usually gross misconduct. However, not sure there is much risk they will find out.

@righsaidlead

i do understand! But being able to trust you is FAR more important than how many beds you've changed in the past!!

they're very demanding. Don't have lots of energy??

there's no way I could keep up with the pace required!!

I hope you get the job, OP, and that after it you can start to construct a proper CV

Some people do furnish job applications and tell tiny porkies now and again, but I think saying you have experience in a job you never had is bending reality. They might ask for references and if they contact Travel Lodge (it's unlikely given it was a long time ago) and ask about you, you know how that's going to go down. You might be okay. But for the sake of a clear conscience, just tell the full truth.

Obviously you shouldn't lie on your CV - that goes almost as unsaid.

But, even if they did look for a reference from the PI I doubt they'd be able to give it. I'd be surprised if they retained staff information that far back - it wouldn't serve a purpose anymore. It's way outside the audit retention threshold and someone along the way will almost certainly have got worried about any GDPR consequences.

You are going to be unlocking a room filled with people's personal possessions, cleaning and locking up after.

I'd like someone trustworthy to do that when I'm a hotel guest.

I don’t believe for a minute that Premier Inn is chasing references for every chambermaid interviewee.

I come from a hotel background OP. One thing to keep in mind is that an awful lot of hotel workers have worked in various hotels and will know each other. Obviously not everyone, but if it's in the same city, there is a good chance that the housekeeping supervisor or manager will know housekeeping supervisors or managers in other hotels very well or may well have been at the travel lodge at the time you say you were there.

You may get lucky but I had a waitress join my team who claimed to have worked in a different hotel but I know for a fact that she didn't because I had been there at the time and my replacement there was a very good friend of mine.

Some things you'll probably be asked in the interview is/was what is your average room rate? Each hotel has a rough rule how long each room should take to be cleaned and you can only really go over if it's a disaster in there.

You'll probably be asked about a time when you caught a guest smoking and what you did. Again different hotels have different procedures, as a HK you won't have your phone on you so it's usually radio for the supervisor or DM to report, don't remove any evidence until they've seen it and taken photos. Same for any damage really.

You may be asked if you ever helped out in other departments. Don't say you did reception because they'll want to know what systems you used etc. don't say you did F&B because they'll want to know if you have your food handling certificates etc.

No experience personally but my Mum and Sister both worked st Premier Inn as room attendants and it absolutely killed them! my Mum lost about 2 stone in the space of 6 months with no changes to her diet, just constantly sweating pulling out beds, changing sheets 6 million times a day etc. Its unreal how many rooms they have to have done per hour so make sure you have an average room rate ready because they'll probably ask you what yours is.
Also a lot of different chemicals etc so they might quiz you about with regards to your COSHH training and may ask for certificates?

You’re not going to get caught they won’t look back to 2007 for references or any kind of proof nor would I expect them to have a high level of what you will know as the “job” was so long ago, they will train you, just watch some hotel cleaning training on YouTube (there are a few) so you can blag any questions you might get in the interview.

I lived overseas for 20 years, when I applied for a retail job here they wanted a reference from my previous employer.

They will probably contact your last employer OP rather than all employers. Obviously you shouldn’t have lied but if you can deal with the job duties easily and quickly you could get the job.

What are you going to do if they query it? Admit the lie or continue with it? Have a plan for this scenario.

My sister worked for them. She's pretty fit and couldn't hack it. Its relentless. When someone's off sick you have to take on their rooms too between you with no additional time given. At least where she worked. It sounded really shit.

But to answer your question it's unlikely they'll check back that far.

I've no idea if it will be obvious you don't have previous experience but on a tangent surely this is one of the barriers to people getting back into employment.

Something like a room attendant should be a values/aptitude based recruitment with a period of induction training on the job. If someone has experience then great but you'd hope it wouldn't be a barrier to employment.

We need to up skill people who want to return to work after a period of unemployment for whatever reason. You see similar with a lot of young people who just need an opportunity and some on the job training to get going in life. Recruitment in a some sectors has become a bit over complicated.

You only need to put 5 years experience down so I would’ve left it

It's more of a warning sign if you get the job after that because it suggests high turnover and low pay as they're desperate to fill.

@greenpolarbear

yeah, but the old adage is still true. It's much easier to get a job when you already have one!

@righsaidlead if you get the job, you should start looking for something else more admin based anyway. It's a shit job, shit expectations, shit pay etc. they get what they deserve loyalty wise!!

I've applied for so many reception
Office based roles but heard nothing back which is soul destroying
I've applied for jet 2 which is admin but it's work from home
I am honest and trustworthy
I just really wanted to get back to work
I know I'm hardworking and reliable
I just need someone to give me a chance