lied/exaggerated about experience to get a job.......

[SugarMouse1]

Hi there,

I hope I'm not going to be too flamed for this, but it honestly seemed like the obvious thing to do as I get nowhere by being completely honest in job applications/interviews.

The job is as a sports receptionist. I lied about doing it as a job before when I had done it as A SMALL PART of a job before, if that makes sense??

Anyway, I really hope it won't be obvious that I don't know what i'm doing, eek!

Any sports receptionists out there???

They're only required because people continue to insist on it. But it's stupid. It's a receptionist job in a gym, not a doctor or nurse or 999 dispatcher or skilled trade/profession.

'The employers will still want to know whether a candidate can turn up on time; is conscientious; conducts themselves in a professional manner; is reliable; is trustworthy. '

And that's proof that they are? They should use their best judgement in hiring and go from there. Plenty of times people are hired with all the right paperwork and turn out to be duds.

I don't know. I think if I was employing someone I'd like to know a little bit about their employment history.

I used to be a receptionist when I first started working and it's a piece of piss as far as actual experience that's needed. All you really need is some intelligence, common sense and ability to cope when it's really busy and you are expected to do five things at once. I bent the truth to get that job to be honest, don't think it's that bad or that uncommon, unless you're saying that you're a doctor or a nurse or something like that.

I would think you'll be fine. As long as you haven't said you've used specific computer or switchboard programmes they would expect you to use then it's the type of job you have to be trained in how they do it at each individual place anyway.

Re references, as long as the dates and places are okay you should get away with it as job titles can be a bit fluid anyway. I have got away with it in the past.

People do lie.

But trust me, they also get caught because amazingly, their managers can usually tell the difference between someone who can do the job they claim to have experience and those whose cluelessness makes it abundantly clear that they can't.

However, it does depend on the job in question since generic skills are usually transferable. So if you've been a receptionist, it might not be the work of a genius to pass yourself off as a sports receptionist. Probably best not to try the same trick if you need very specific, and very technical skills though.

As for why more people don't lie, that may well come down to a perfectly reasonable preference for honesty.

A receptionist might not be a highly quaslified job but I would still want a reference. I would want to know if the person I am employing is competent, punctual, reliable etc... You would be surprised sometimes at how some people cannot even manage the simplest of tasks. You can still encounter people who have not even got any idea how to switch a PC on.

I meant qualified

You'll be grand. It's hardly a huge lie. You just exaggerated a bit and if you are presentable, personable and competent you will do a great job.

is trustworthy - which someone who lies about their experience and abilities in order to get a job clearly isn't.

I don't lie or embellish - it just feels wrong and it rapidly becomes apparent too and anyway I'm bloody amazing hehehe.

I am incredulous at this thread. If you get caught in a lie about your qualifications, you get fired. I don't care if it's for a receptionist or a brain surgeon.

You then have to explain to future employers why you got fired.

And I, as an employer, would never hire someone who was fired for lying. Ever. For any job. Not even to empty my trash.

And if they didn't have one? I mean, this is a real barrier to people getting entry-level jobs like this.

Can you answer a phone?
Can you smile sweetly at wankers?
Can you operate a computer?
Do you look good in lycra?
Can you lie about your superiors whereabouts convincingly?
Can you count cash/operate a till?

If so, you'll be fine

Really Yank?

I employ about 40 people and I wouldn't give a shit if I found out they'd exaggerated their experience or how long they were at previous employer's as long as they were doing a great job.

LOL @ qualifications to pick up a phone and greet people in a gym.

Seriously.

You probably have former prisoners collecting your rubbish, too. Who cares? As long as it's collected well.

fired. trash.

sacked. rubbish.

You didn't tell an out and out lie but only exaggerated. So that's OK I think . As long as you are confident you can cope with the job. Times are hard these days and how do you know everyone else is telling the absolute truth on applications. I expect they are not. But if you've supplied details of a company you said you worked for and you didn't work for that company that is a different thing altogether.

There you have it, Sugar! You will get sacked and never, ever, ever get another job picking up phones or even touching the rubbish of the high and mighty who have never told a lie in their lives. You may as well go mug a pensioner, prison is too good for people who embellish to get a job as a 'sports receptionist'.

I don't know what being a Sports Receptionist entails, but it's possible it includes some sort of first aid qualification, some knowledge of the gym equipment as she's the first contact with new members, etc.
If so, her lies will be exposed at the interview anyway. I doubt it's just answering the phone, or they'd have an automated booking system.

No no.

My gym has a number of "sports receptionists". They do exactly as I said above They recently advertised and the job spec was exactly the same as a regular receptionist (I lied about the lycra).

It's a meet and greet, phones, general computer knowledge. I've done it myself. What Katie said, but I looked great in lycra back then.

I think this thread is a bit irrelevant anyway. The OP has not got the job, she has only been called for interview. If she comes across in real life as she has here, I don't honestly think there's much chance of her getting the job.

Of course you shouldn't lie. It's fraud. It is also unfair on the people who actually have the decency to be honest in their application. I shouldn't imagine you'll get the job anyway, but if you do don't complain if you get fired when you get found out.

Of course you should! Do you think people from top public schools tell the truth ('like a newborn blinking in the sun we sat shellshocked in the steering committee hoping one of the 'short reports' we had asked for from junior staff would give us something to go on') or do they lie 'I derived and implemented growth at the strategic level overseeing and directing a talented team of specialists'). BS away with impunity!

Being a sports receptionist is hardly being a brain surgeon.

If you think you could do the job and they don't check their references properly then no harm done I say. All reception jobs are different so they will train you up on the systems they want you to use anyway.

I would not be pleased because I think honesty is a hugely important part of every job. I had an employee who lied to me once. It was hugely worrying when I realised he was lying. He was also incompetent. He thankfully resigned as I didn't want to have to take disciplinary action.