Should I take the job when I cheated to get it

[Fuzzywuzzy1]

Name changed.

I'm rubbish at interviews and had failed at over 7 over 6 months.

I had a job coming up and I knew there was a friend of a friend who could help me. I admit I was manipulative. I gave her a bit of a sob story about how I was so depressed I couldn't get a job (it was true though). Knowing she would put a good word in for me.

So she told the hiring manager I was brilliant and the person she wanted to get the job etc. She worked for the same department previously and was very well respected so this personal recommendation mattered. But while it helps there is a 'merit' based system so while it's not point based it's an overall mark for your answer.

So the friend found out the questions beforehand for me and rang me to give me them and then sat down with me the following week and told me what to say for each one.

When the day of the interview came I obviously excelled as I knew the questions and answers. There was one question I didn't know but gave a good answer anyway.

I got the job and was delighted. I am qualified for the job and competent but I'm so so rubbish at interviews.

As my start date goes nearer I my excitement has gone.

I cheated.

I would not have known the answers without help and had a HUGE advantage over the other candidates. I don't think I would be sacked if found out and there's no way they could prove it anyway but I just feel bad.

Like I've not got the job on merit.

But then loads of people get jobs because of who they know every day.

So maybe I should forgive myself.

AIBU to feel really guilty?

So the friend of a friend knows you well enough to know you definitely can do this job.

But not well enough for you to declare you know her on the form.

Doesnt add up op.

Op. Hate to break it to you but you aren't competent. Were you, you would know the answers. Had you just approached your friend and she had given you the broad idea of the exact legislation that questions may cover cough then that would be morally grey, but likely to be 'ok'. To give you answers and coach you crosses a big line for you both.

I work in an industry where I am required to know a lot of legislation as well. I am also in a position where I interview. When technical questions are asked we expect the answers to be in line with your expected level of competency. For instance if the question is "what legislation covers x?"

We expect, as an example, the following answers:

Entry level: y act 1991- I would have to look up the exact section.
Low experiance: section 3 of y act 1991
Mid level: section 3 of y act 1991. The penalties under Subsection (2) are often seen as overly punative by clients, however section 4 covers an alternative route....

Experienced: section 3 of y act 1991. There are obvious issues with the penalties under subsection (2) and although section 4 covers an alternative route there is a risk that by going this route the client may fail to meet the requirements of section 1 of z act 1985. In my experiance of these situations.... etc etc

We will ask a few that cross different fields, we fully expect candidates to vary in their competency accross the questions. I.e mid level answer to 3 out of 6, low level to 2 and entry level to 1. Maybe even a complete fail on one or more depending on level.

This way we can ask the same technical questions to give a level playing field.

However, (and this is where you should be worried) if we are interviewing for an entry level position and the candidate gives 'perfect' mid level answers to every single question then it gets a little suspicious. Not enough to not offer you the job (you maybe a genius and/or over qualified / the perfect canidate afterall) but I can guarantee you; you and your work will be watched like a hawk. Inconsistencies with the level of knowledge displayed in the interview and what you produce will be questioned.

Ps. As a company we often check the social media of new employees, even after hiring. If the link is found there maybe questions.

For a year I worked in the same building as her but in a different office.

She's not my friend but a close friend of my best friend. As a result I see her about 4 times a year now I've left my last job.

She knows enough of me to see I'm confident and competent.

We only have to declare if we know someone on the interview panel. Not all members of staff.

She definitely should not have done that. How did she get the questions?

For some jobs there are say 20 set questions and each interview they'll ask 5ish from that list, the interviewers don't have much input into the set questions and they don't change

I googled the interview questions for one place I interviewed at and got the full list - I was asked a selection from that list, I don't think I cheated I just think I prepared

Another place where I interviewed that has a set "bank" of questions for candidates to be asked doesn't exactly consider the questions secret - it's not cheating to ask around what people have been asked and prepare answers accordingly

If I had a friend going for interview at my place of work I could tell them at least 8/10ths of the questions they'll be asked just from hearing about other people's interviews, I could also tell them what is being looked for, which again isn't secret or classified, anyone who is experienced at interviewing at this company would know what to say but a newbee would need guidance and I wouldn't feel I was doing anything wrong by doing some prep with them so long as I was nothing to do with the panel.

It's not like she got given an exam paper in advance

It's more like say you were taking the theory test for driving - it's not cheating to read the official question and answer book knowing you'll definitely be given a selection from that full book of questions

it's just prep

If indeed this is true and not some tedious person bored on a Sunday as Leda has astutely surmised.

She's not competent - a competent person wouldn't need to recite answers given to her by someone else - this is not a case of who you know.

She doesn't feel guilty, not one word about the people she has cheated, lied to and deceived with her corrupt and unethical behaviour.

Or whose livelihood she has directly affected.

Just the type of employee you'd want working for your firm?

Especially in some sort of legal capacity?

There is that saying of how can you spot a manipulative toxic person?

Answer - they will tell you.

It's the first thing she said was,

I admit I was manipulative

And that's all you need to know about this one.

I used to work for a large blue chip company. If you were going for the next grade band up, it was common for your own manager to slip you a copy of the interview questions! So don't worry 😉

You say you're competent but bad at interviews. Then you say you knew 2 out of 6 questions. As you knew the questions before the interview and they were based on knowledge, the whole argument that you're bad at interviews doesn't apply here. You didn't know the answers before the interview either. It sounds like you lack the knowledge required for the job. So maybe you're not bad at interviews, but you're applying for positions that require more practical working experience.

So yes, you cheated, yes you were wrong to do so and I think you're going to get found out immediately when you start your job, as it will be clear that you don't have the experience that came across in the interview. I feel bad for the people who hired you, thinking you were the best candidate, and wasting all that time and money on someone who is not up to the job.

Were you, you would know the answers

not necesarrily

A very able external candidate might not know that the interview questions are based on the organisations current priority. Which is when it becomes harder for really good external candidates to get in, and you end up with the same useless internal candidates because they know the right buzz words.

It can be really hard to get a foot in in some places due to internal candidates who aren't better , they just get the interview lingo right, and in a points based interview the interviewers can't always hire the person they like best, who might be an internal who doesn't know what boxes the interview questions are asking you to tick

Helping out an external candidate sometimes just levels the playing field.

I used to work for a large blue chip company. If you were going for the next grade band up, it was common for your own manager to slip you a copy of the interview questions! So don't worry

Exactly!

The OP didn't have an advantage necessarily, she just got the same starting point that internal candidates often have.

Take it and keep it.
I am rubbish at interviews. Some people are great. Then when it comes to do the actual job some of those are lazy or not very good at it.
The points system seems fair but it is not.
Take it and prove that you earned it by working hard at it every day

Is it 'OP bashing' to say that I believe the actions described in the initial post are dishonest since an advantage was procured dishonestly and not subsequently declare.

You say this job will be working in law/legislation, OP. Blimey.
If you are a solicitor or police you will recognise what you did as fraud to conceal your lack of knowledge regarding the interview questions.

@tinsel partially agree, but not in the case of technical questions. In those cases it is right or wrong, there is limited spin and buzz words you can put on that.

Yeah I think if anyone is ever offered a job they should check if any of the failed applicants are in more dire straits than them, and if they are they should always turn down the job offer. It's only ethical after all.

The fact that the OPs friend, who is NOT on the planel, know the questions they would be asking as well as exactly what kind of answers they wanted just proves that all that was done here was to give an external candidate the same starting info that any internal candidate would have.

I could do exactly the same where I work.. and I wouldn't be stealing any cheat sheets from the Panels desks, it's just stuff that we would know being familiar with the company.

Maybe I should have turned my job down afterall I knew exactly how my interview would go having worked for the exact same company before my kids and doing temping there when the girls were young so nothing that happend at the interview was a surprise to me and I even knew how the interview points are calculated! (again, NOT secret, they're not looking for buzzwords but are looking for certain things to be evidenced in your answers)

By some posters logic, no internal candidates can ever ethically accept jobs!!

But Tinsel the interview list was not made available or published to any other candidate for the post. For a driving test it is.

The OP not only was secretly given the list, but additionally coached through the questions to enable her to give excellent answers. She says she didn't know the answers and without the coaching would not have got the job.

It IS different. And it IS comparable to an exam paper because the setup for the job candidates was the same - the questions were not made public and therefore anyone gaining access to them meant that the other candidates did not have equality of opportunity.

It's actually quite disgusting I think. I'm also shocked by the volume of people who think it falls under the category of "good preparation". There's no point in an interview if you parrot out what you've been told to say.

It's easy for us to say, yeah, you did what you had to do, now go and enjoy the job. But who's speaking up for the poor saps who turned up for the same interview and never stood a chance? Maybe that job could have turned their lives around, maybe it was their dream job, maybe they were in a worse state than you were and really needed that job in their life far more than you did. You manipulated and you cheated to get the job. You know you were in the wrong and you're in here looking for absolution. I'm sorry. I wish there was something better I could say about it.

Tinsel the point is not that she got spoon fed the questions it is that she had to be spoon fed the answers as well. Getting a copy of the questions is questionable but to actually have to get someone to spoon feed the answers is cheating and morally corrupt.

I feel sorry for the OP's clients - whoever they are

I think you showed great initiative and clearly are the right person for the job! Good luck and do a great job

I recently didn't get a job I was recommended for (and was perfect for) because I'm female and the hiring prick is male - not much I can do about that (even though I knew both questions and answers beforehand!) - hey you win some you loose some! Good luck.

Although I am a bit taken aback at how many people are absolutely fine, I did genuinely laugh at the post which said "Google Imposter Syndrome". Yes, in order to find out that the OP doesn't have it - she has cheated to get a job

Yes of course eve you dont knoe what the job is or what company......but you just know the OP is the right person for the job