Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Is it unreasonable to lie..

70 replies

aristomache · 11/01/2011 19:14

..on a job application?

I haven't told any massive whoppers - I've said I don't smoke, which I do and I elevated the position I held in a long gone company. Only to a position which I am qualified for and could do backwards though.

GCSE results may have received a slight embellishment as well.

So have you? would you? could you?

OP posts:

magicmummy1 · 11/01/2011 20:04

GOod luck with it then!

theevildead2 · 11/01/2011 20:05

ashamedandconfused Thats becauswe the guy in question was a cunt.

I believe the guy last year who won (or maybe the year before) was actuallly caught out properly on his cv.

I don't think you are that unreasonable OP. Unless there is a genuine reason why you shouldn't be a smoker and do the job, I don't think you have fibbed any more than most people.

FaffTastic · 11/01/2011 21:14

I think you're daft for lying about exam results - some employers ask for certificates etc.

If my Compnay found out someone had lied about qualifications the job offer would be retracted.

Booandpops · 11/01/2011 21:19

I have lied and got away with it. Changed my d Grade Maths o level to a c grade. Up to you if you feel it's worth the risk. Mind you when I did it it was over twelve yrs ago. Things may have changed since then. I'm self employed now so no point in lying to myself. Hee hee

Gemsy83 · 11/01/2011 21:22

Wtf who are you John Stape/Colin Fishwick? Is it for a teaching post?

PuraVida · 11/01/2011 21:26

I have always lied about my a levels They are unfeasibly bad and I went on to get a very good degree, which is more relevant. I now just say 3 a levels grade a-c. No one has ever asked ne to be more specific

mumeeee · 11/01/2011 21:43

YABU. If you do get the job and they find out that you've lied you could lose the job.

crystalglasses · 11/01/2011 21:54

I never mention my GCEs (that's how old I am) because they'll give away my age and then I might be age-discriminated against. Anyway I have a PhD so nobdy looks beyond that.

fairtradefloozy · 11/01/2011 22:01

oh what tangled web we weave .... gosh, i sound poncy but its true ... don't make your life harder than it has to be.

Original poster

aristomache · 11/01/2011 22:48

fairtrade I'm trying any means possible to make a hard life easier!!

I haven't told any huge whoppers, I haven't declared that I am able or qualified to a job that I'm not, there's no way that I could be found out.

I am desperate for this job, and despite the "outrage" I don't think I've done anything that awful.

If I get the job over somebody who has better GCSE results from 23 years ago then so be it - why should I really care that somebody else didn't get the job?

At the end of the day all that's important to me is myself and my kids, and believe me getting this job would make all our lives so much easier.

I think sometimes the means do justify the end

OP posts:

ll31 · 11/01/2011 23:00

not unreasonable to talk up prev jobs esp but v unreasonable to lie re qualifications

atswimtwolengths · 11/01/2011 23:04

I think you're being unreasonable to think that lying about your qualifications will help anyway.

You're far better off explaining that you didn't do well in school and give good reasons for this - unhappy home life, lack of direction, inability to concentrate due to family problems. You can then show that you have changed since then and that you have turned your life around.

Didn't Alan Sugar give the Apprentice job to the guy who lied, a couple of years ago?

I would probably embellish the job, if the company no longer existed.

I don't think exam boards keep records from more than about 15 years ago.

As I said, you're better showing you did badly when you were very young but then turned yourself around, rather than that you were incredibly intelligent (with your 15 As at GCSE) but didn't actually do anything with it.

Original poster

aristomache · 11/01/2011 23:08

I'm not exactly lying about that ll31, as I am more than qualified & experienced to do the job that I've applied for.

I've told a little white lie about exams I took 23 years ago, and my role in a defunct company(which by the way, I am also qualified for)

I wont be endangering anybody's health or well-being, I wont get "found out" and even if I do - the feds wont be breaking my door down.

If telling a couple of little fibs is what it takes to try and improve things for me and my family, then I can live with that :)

I'm nly surprised that more people aren't admitting to doing the same

OP posts:

Original poster

aristomache · 11/01/2011 23:10

atswimtwolengths I have by no means claimed to have 15 A's at GCSE, I've upped my mark on a couple of subjects by one grade.

OP posts:

SandStorm · 11/01/2011 23:11

If you're a smoker they will smell it on you and that will lead them to question what else you've lied about. It's really not worth it.

Original poster

aristomache · 11/01/2011 23:15

sandstorm if I get the job then it WILL be worth it!! I'm not a heavy smoker, the job is 3 days a week and I know I can go without a cigarette until I've finished work.

I'm so not looking forward to reporting back here that my application wasn't succesful

OP posts:

fairtradefloozy · 11/01/2011 23:17

OP, I appreciate (trust me, I have been up the s**t without a boat, never mind a paddle) that you are trying to make things better.

If they find out you lied you will be dismissed. How will that help in the future? How will you explain that away?

Even if you have a degree in rocket science, some orgs will check your certificates. I know three companies that do this routinely to see if you are lying on your CV - if you're lying about that, what else might you be lying about ...

You're potentially making it much harder for yourself than potentially it has to be.

FunnysInTheGarden · 11/01/2011 23:18

It is U and a bit naff to lie. Imagine getting found out for whatever reason. You would die a thousand deaths.

SandStorm · 11/01/2011 23:20

FWIW I don't think being a smoker or a non-smoker will be the deciding factor - it will be the dishonesty.

If it helps though, I've made several appointments over the years and in each case, industry specific qualifications have been important but experience has always had the edge over quals. GCSE/O levels have never really featured that highly but I would have doubts about someone who fibbed.

Original poster

aristomache · 11/01/2011 23:21

How on earth would anyone find out? The company where I've slightly upgraded my position has long since gone under, GCSE's were 23 years ago, and smoking see previous post.

No funny I wouldn't die a thousand deaths, I'd just knuckle down and apply myself to lying on the next job application

Amazed that nobody has taken the initiative to do the same, as somebody said up thread - it's a jungle out there folks!!

OP posts:

ll31 · 11/01/2011 23:23

"I'm not exactly lying about that ll31, as I am more than qualified & experienced to do the job that I've applied for.
"

yep you may not be lying about your current qualifications but you're lying about gcses - so like it or not you're lying about your qualifications... why bother lying about gcses if you have the qualifications you need - dont get it

FunnysInTheGarden · 11/01/2011 23:25

thing is aristo not all of us have to lie on our job apps...........

Original poster

aristomache · 11/01/2011 23:26

To look slightly better and maybe get the edge over competitors for the post?

Why not lie, if there's no chance of being found out? Why not give myself the best chance I possibly can to secure an interview?

OP posts:

Original poster

aristomache · 11/01/2011 23:26

I'm very pleased for you all funny

OP posts:

magicmummy1 · 11/01/2011 23:26

There is a part of me that doesn't want to say this, but the guy I fired had done exactly that - inflated his GCSE grades on several subjects. He didn't massively inflate them, just upped them a bit. God knows why - he had other relevant skills and experience, and I didn't even look at the grades when shortlisting, as other parts of the application were more relevant.

I found out quite by chance, when he let something slip in conversation one day after he'd been with us for a few months. He was doing well in the job, but lying on a job application is considered gross misconduct in my organisation, and I had little choice but to dismiss him.

The irony is that I'd have employed him with his actual grades in any case, and if he hadn't lied, he'd still have a job.

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread