WIBU to tell...

[Givesyouhell]

Dilemma. I spent hours and hours helping someone prep for interview to a post at my grade and provided vast amounts of information to them. She would almost certainly not gave been offered the post without my help as she really hadn't got a clue. They came back from interview and (happily) told me they'd presented a piece of work I'd done a year ago as their own work - got major interview brownie points due to it. Do I tell? If I tell - I am stuck working with her indefinitely and she will know i told. If not, she takes up position due to a lie.

You helped someone and now regret it? Why go to all the trouble if you didn't want to work with her? Why did you give her your work to present in the first place?

I think you're massively conceited, tbh. If she actually got the job, it probably has more to do with qualifications and experience than 'prep'. There's only so much you can blag.

I suspect if you tell, you will look far worse than she does.

Very tricky.

She's a cheeky fecker - that's plagiarism and it's not on.

Tbh she's probably going to trip herself up if she's over stretched herself that much.

I'd tell her that I was furious and she'd stolen the work and let her sweat

Fwiw I don't think you sound conceited at all.

Ooo. ..maybe that is how I've come across. Wasn't intentional. I don't think I will tell, but I'm quite stunned. I've never taken credit for anyone's work. Never. I barely take credit for my own. So to give someone my report to use to learn how the department works, only to have it presented by them as their own work to my managers feels very underhanded. Maybe I'm overreacting as it wouldn't be something I'd consider doing under any circumstances.

I don't think it's an over reaction, what she's done is very unscrupulous and if she did work there how can you trust her not to continue trying to take credit for work you've done? Did you make it clear that you weren't happy with what she'd done?

It's plagiarism, and I wouldn't trust someone like that as a coworker.

Can you tell without "telling" as in, say to the interviewer something like, "I heard you were impressed by her knowledge of the report I wrote last year."?

Well this is a tricky one. I'd have to say something to her... Along the lines of...

I was happy to help you prep for the interview, but plagiarising my work is going too far. I value my integrity and need the company to trust me so one way or another you or I have to tell them there was a mistake.

And see what she says. I wouldn't let this slide unfortunately, you could easily end up tainted by association...

I won't be working closely with her once she takes up post. I'll see her a handful of times a year. If she doesn't take up post I will be working very very closely with her for a long time.

I'd tell. Cheeky!

Hmm, well what thought is worse to you? Working closely with her after what she's done or letting her get away with this?

I'm thinking that working closely is going to be worse. She has access to vast amounts of my work at the moment, I've always shared everything freely and without a second thought. For the first time ever I feel quite defensive (if that is the right word?) of her having access to my work, and I do think IABU to feel that. It's going to leave a nasty taste in my mouth whatever.

There was another, sort of unrelated, incident yesterday. She declined attending something very important to her new role with what I absolutely know to be a poor reason and more because she wasn't particularly interested. I am wondering if I shouldn't have prepped her for interview and have misjudged. But, again, that is also U of me. I'm clearly just sulking now!

I'd hang fire. If she gets the job and you will hardly ever see her, then she's pretty much gone and you won't have much, if anything, to do with her.

If she doesn't get the job, then I'd dob her in so they sack her. Then the rest of your work that you are worried about is safe.

Will she work as your superior or be out of your life if she takes up the position?

I learned the hard way that helping people into a job as y did can massively backfire. I did it once and lived to regret it forever.

This person sounds like someone who will not stop at anything to further herself in her career and probably just used you. I speak from personal experience.

So she's convinced someone else to do hours of work for them, bullshitted and lied and claimed credit for work she hasn't done? That's basically all the qualifications you need to get a promotion, she'll go far.

I don't think there's much you can say in this situation. Unless you work in an environment where an assessment of the work that was presented would be very material to the role (say copywriter, illustrator) and I'm assuming it's not.

Probably a lesson here about being more prepared to take credit for your own work and generally sell yourself.

If you currently work together yet she's presented your work to (presumably) mutual managers as her own how does that work then? Will she get credit for work you've done if she doesn't get the job? In which case could you find yourself in trouble for not doing sorting you should have /could have?

I'd take teenagemutantninjaturtle's approach...

"I won't be working closely with her once she takes up post. I'll see her a handful of times a year. If she doesn't take up post I will be working very very closely with her for a long time."

Ok, just read this bit.

givesyouhell I would be very careful with this person. Even if you only see her a few times a year she had the ability (and we already know she has no scruples) to harm your professionally. I have learned some hard lessons in my previous job. My warning is this: if she gets this new role and is in a senior position due to plagiarism then you end up being a threat to her. She will probably proceed to 'destroy' you, well at the very least discredit you because you will be the only person who knows that (1) she isn't really qualified for this new job and (2) she tricked her way into it.

Seriously mark my words, I have worked wit pole like this and have been so fucked over by them as I was too naive before to think people could be that selfish.

With people .... Sorry about typos. Am annoyed on your behalf.

Completely unacceptable behaviour on her part! She plagiarised your work and lied to the interview committee.

Having said that I don't know what is the best thing you could do about it, very difficult situation.

A senior colleague of mine once put me in a similarly difficult position. He applied for a research grant, didn't do the work (not sure he was qualified to do it) and then asked me for work I had already done which he could present as his own and as the output of the research grant. Given our working relationship I didn't feel as if I could refuse (superior to me and we worked together very very closely) but I resent what he did and the position he put me in.

Thanks for your responses. I think I've been silly to have leapt in and helped so enthusiastically. She will be at an equal grade to me, but in a satellite area so other than occasional meetings we will be separate.

The work she presented wasn't (in my view) particularly amazing. It was a document I drew up to ensure that everything is done in an organised and timely manner and nothing is missed. An organisational tool, if you like. However, it has made it appear that she was in full knowledge of every tiniest task required, and that (in her words) she drew it up to demonstrate her in depth knowledge of the area. I've actually shared this with many of my peers over the past year and it's already in use by several of them. So it certainly wasn't secret. It also isn't a tool that the interviewers would have seen before as it's quite grade specific. The lady concerned will now be line managing a number of people in a very tough job indeed. I can only pray this is a one off 'blip' for her and this is isn't an example of her usual behaviour.

I will be very careful indeed around her from now on.

Tell!

Wait till she is offered and starts the job.

Then tell.

Depends on the friend, and how much she needed a job to be honest. It's not good to take credit for someone else's work, and more likely than not it'll back fire when she tries to do something on her own.

It could be she desperately needed a job and would do anything to get it. Or she could just be one of those people that uses others to get what they want. Or.. she may not have known she couldn't use a document you specifically gave her.

OK given the nature of the work she presented, I'd be even more cautious of saying anything. She might just be exaggerating for effect when saying she passed this work off as her own.

On the one hand she could have waltzed in and said "look at this amazing thing I implemented all by myself" or she could have said, in the context of a discussion about how she would manage work in her new position "well here's an example of how we manage it at the moment" and talked through how that worked and how she thought this model would work well in the new team.

If you try to flag this up you risk just looking bitter, or not trusting the judgement of senior staff who were interviewing her. Plus there is a strong risk that it'll get back to her that you 'grassed her up'. None of those reflects well on you (however unfair that is). If she gets the job she's out of your hair, if she doesn't at least you haven't shot yourself in the foot.

I would hold your fire for the moment.
Even if she is appointed, from reading your post it sounds like she does not have the knowledge or experience to do the job. Sink or swim for her.
I, personally, would be less forthcoming with any similar requests in future.

I wouldn't dob her in .

I think I would e-mail her to congratulate her on her interview and say glad that your work helped and if she needs anymore assistance / advice just let you know

that should get your message across

I suspect you maybe too busy to help her again though