Job offer but I’ve f****d up the references

[newdays55]

Hi ladies,

I’ll start off by saying I know I’ve messed up. I’m an idiot and shouldn’t have lied.

I applied and interviewed for a job 3 weeks ago. It’s an admin role in the health care sector (not a carer and I won’t have any contact with patients)

I had to complete an employment history form before the interview and I wasn’t completely truthful. I left off certain jobs because I was only there a short period and I thought it looked awful, and other jobs I extended the dates slightly. My last 2 jobs are correct though.

Anyway, I was unexpectedly offered the job on Friday, which I accepted.

I’m panicking now though in case they find out that I’ve lied. The woman who interviewed me said that they occasionally request references covering the last 10 years of employment (or for any jobs related to care, which I did previously). However they normally only request references from the last 3 employers. I will also have to complete a DBS check which is fine.

I’m shitting myself now. The onboarding process can take 4-6 weeks and I’m worried about handing my notice in or turning down other job offers in case they find out and retract the offer.

Should I just ride it out and hope for the best?

I'd ring them and tell them you were initially dishonest. It's up them to decide if this is acceptable or not.
Sadly not a good start. What were you hoping to achieve by lying in print?

Sorry, why was it you lied? Just because you were at some jobs a short time? Thats odd. Is it really because of what happened at those jobs and you wanted to hide them, like you were fired or something?

Either you tell them you lied or wait and see. But if they find out then expect the offer to be withdrawn because lying on an application is usually an instant out, even if the lie is harmless.

@TheCountofMountingCrispBagsI know, I don’t know what I was thinking to be honest. Some jobs I’d only worked there for a couple of weeks and thought it looked bad so I just left them off. I didn’t realise they’d do such extensive checks (apart from 3 references and a dbs check) with it being an office based role.

@Thebloodynineno I wasn’t fired or anything like that, just left because I didn’t enjoy the job, manager was awful etc etc. I lied because I thought it looked bad leaving a job after a couple of weeks.

You aren't the first and you won’t be the last.Come clean now, show contrition, otherwise you will have this hanging over you the whole time you work there.

So looking at the last 3 jobs, were you creative with all the dates or only some/one of them? If it’s a case of the start/end of one being stretched, you could email HR and say you noticed an error on the application form and give the correct date.

I would not message and say I lied.

I’m confused - it doesn’t matter that you didn’t include jobs, does it? If the jobs aren’t on your CV they can’t contact them.

What matters is if you did any creative writing about your last 3 jobs. Because those details could be checked. Dates, job title, duties, etc. Are they true?

So much more sensible to have an honest cv with your achievements bigged up. Short-held jobs are no longer an issue to most employers as long as you have a good rationale for staying such a short time
Ring them, tell them.

@tryingtobesogood my current and previous job are correct, but I haven’t declared the 3rd job because I was only there for 2 weeks. I was working on a self employed basis at the time (alongside the 3rd job) so I just put that down instead. I can provide 3 references.

There were a couple of jobs back in 2019-2020 that I didn’t declare because I was only there for a few weeks. Some jobs I also extended the dates slightly, but they were over 6-7 years ago.

Hope that makes sense.

@SomeKindOfMehsorry, I’ve probably not explained myself properly. I had to complete an employment history form after I applied for the job. I had to declare every job I’ve had since leaving school and some I left off because I was only there for a short period.

yeah, this. even after your further explanation I still don't get the issue. If you didn't put them down how will they know you worked there and missed them off?

also depends what you mean by 'slightly' extending dates of other jobs - if it's by a week or two just say you got confused - if they were several jobs ago (as you've said your 2 most recent were correct) it's understandable you might not remember exact details. I've had examples before when there is discrepancy between the last day actually worked, then the 'official' day ceased to be employed (because of annual leave to use up/gardening leave/sick leave), but then last pay nearly a month later. I can't see how most employers would care about a one-off mistake of a few days to a fortnight if everything else was correct.

If it's several months out that's a bit stupid, if you were worried about a gap (because you didn't include the short term jobs), you could have just said you were job hunting at that time.

In terms of giving your notice in at current job, I wouldn't do that until they had completed all references and formally confirmed the job anyway, so wouldn't worry about that.

Oh that’s not that bad. You left off a job of a few weeks, but righty said you were self employed. I no longer include my entire work history, otherwise it’s pages and pages and I’m sure they are not interested in some agency job I had years ago.

I wouldn’t panic. They will take the 3 references you have given.

Leaving jobs off is fine, if they were very short term or not relevant to your CV. I don't list summer/ student jobs on my CV any more because as a professional with 20 years of experience nobody is interested in my temp job at Argos.

Extending dates on jobs though is more sketchy. If we are only talking a few weeks or whatever, I wouldn't bother saying anything and if you do get caught then claim it was an honest mistake. If it's longer than that though you probably need to fess up and hope they are understanding.

Doesn't sound like a big deal to me. I would wait and see what happens rather than fess up

Very few employers have the time or resources to check all references for the past 10 years; they will normally only go to the referees you name, presuming those are your most recent employers. However, if they spot an anomaly (eg a referee’sdates don’t match up with the ones you list on your application), they may do further checks.

So you’re probably ok on this occasion. However, learn your lesson from this and never lie on a job application again. Particularly in any kind of social care/education/health setting where trustworthiness is paramount and being found to be a liar will be grounds for an offer to be withdrawn or dismissal if it’s discovered at a later date.

@tryingtobesogood yes that’s what I thought. But they mentioned about requesting information from HMRC (for example, if they want / need a reference from a job I did years ago and they can’t get it) then they would ask HMRC to confirm I worked for that company. If that’s the case and I lied about how long I worked for them, then I’m screwed as they will be able to see dates!

Contact them and explain. If the jobs you left off were very short periods of employment you can just be honest that you didn’t think them relevant, but would be happy to have that employer contacted for a reference; and it’s easily done to misremember exact employment dates: I’ve accidentally included the wrong months on my CV before and only realised when checking or finding something afterwards.

In jobs like healthcare, the concern would be that you left jobs off / manipulated employment dates because those jobs would give you poor references / advise of a safeguarding issue / that you were on garden leave whilst under investigation over a disciplinary. Whilst you might not have direct access to patients, you will have records to their information. It’s always best for you to own up to a falsehood than for the employer to find out you concealed it.

How long did you extend the dates and how long ago was the job?

I wouldn't remember an exact start/finish date. I only put month and year, so even if out by 1 month could be a mistake of a few days.

I don't think they'll find or even care if it's only a little bit out

I think it's pretty common that people do this but being the care sector i'd imagine it's much more strict. You could perhaps just say as they were more a job trial you left them off but the dates for the others wouldn't be so easily explained. Think it all depends how long you extended them by to be honest! Surely it's only a big deal if it's by alot?

I wouldntworry about leaving short term jobs off. How long did you extend the dates by? If it's a few months I think it will be fine, a few years might be a different story.

I agree.

@AgileEagle only a few months, definitely not years. I’m worried in case they request information via HMRC which have exact dates on, plus any jobs I haven’t declared.

How will they know you lied? I thought it was normal not to block up valuable space on your CV with an unrelated job you only did for a week.

Surely if it really was only a week or so discrepancy that wouldn't even come up when seeking a reference from elsewhere? Explaining away a couple of week long gaps over more than a decade is hardly the end of the world is it?

I'm just struggling to see what major crime you feel you've committed. I'd be astonished if they withdrew the offer and no, I wouldn't say anything.

I think it sounds fine.