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?

This, i honestly would just leave it.

I once worked with a very interesting guy who made his way up the ladder from homeless to a manager, he lied on all cvs initially because he was homeless no one would employ him. Now a high flyer in London!

So there you go!

FGS don't say you lied. They'll immediately withdraw the offer. Wait and see what happens. If they query anything... say you'll check and then say it was a while ago and a short time and you made a mistake.

This 100%

THIS

I've worked in jobs with Deep dive checks due to their nature and I've missed off shit jobs that were for a month or two, but IF THEY QUERY ANYTHING TELL THEM THE UTTER TRUTH.

I remember working in one bank and a colleague had put down 'looking for work' to cover a period of 6 months , years ago. He was in fact working for the post office but was somehow ashamed to put it down. Anyway HR queried it and asked him two times to confirm if he was signing on, he said no, just looking for work for 6 months and they sacked him.

The boss was furious , as all he had to say was he was working for the post office and forgot to put it down as it was years ago, and NOTHING would have happened, it would have been seen as a oversight.

Its key that you tell the truth on ANYTHING they come back with. Obvsiously if they don't come back, they haven't found anyting that doesn't add up.

I think given that you were self employed in the same period and it usually wants chronological it wouldn't be unreasonable to say you misinterpreted it as your main role.

I wouldn't be contacting them but as above, give the correct information if asked. I'm sure it will be fine.

How long is your notice period and do you have annual leave to include? I'd just hang on in terms of submitting your formal resignation until it's all confirmed.

You're over thinking it.

This is what I’m worried about because there are some jobs on the HMRC portal that I left off the form and I’m not sure how I will explain those if they notice / ask.

I feel like such a twat, I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m not a criminal and I’ve never been in trouble before. The DBS check will come back clean obviously. I was just worried that the short term jobs would go against me (maybe things have changed now but it certainly use to be frowned upon by employers and they would consider you a job hopper even if you had a valid reason for leaving)

I guess I will have to wait and see what happens. Lesson learned…

Yes I don’t think the dates are the problem (given that some jobs were over 7 years ago / difficult to remember exactly when I started and left so I think I could explain this) but the fact I haven’t declared certain jobs, even if they were only for a couple of weeks…

How long back does that go? No one would be asking for my earliest jobs references because they date back to 1979.

HMRC won’t be able to disclose anything to a potential employer unless you’ve given consent. And even then, and employment history check from HMRC will only go back 5 years. So, if you haven’t given consent, or the gaps are more than 5 years ago then there isn’t an issue. If you are applying for a job at MI5, as another posted says, then maybe you should be concerned. Otherwise I wouldn’t give it another thought.

Unfortunately some of the jobs that I missed off are less than 5 years ago and they do show up on the portal :(

They probably won't ask, and if they do, just say you forgot as they were such short engagements. Don't worry, but also in future don't try to massage your work history. It's not worth the anxiety.

Just tell them you were self employed for any gaps. I think it'll be fine.

If they ask why you didn't mention certain jobs just say you weren't there long enough for them to be relevant experience to demonstrate to a potential employer

I’ve done this before for very practical reasons, including my CV being very long indeed because I am of an age now where I’ve had lots fixed term contracts on a short term basis. If you are saying that you have been honest on your most recent employment, you should The fine. If the “dishonesty” is relating to jobs you had a long time ago you might just be able to explain that they were very short term and you’re happy to get references from those employers if necessary. As a recruiter I can assure you that once I have recruited, I will do everything within my power to progress that applicant. Recruitment is a long old process and it’s always exciting to find the right person for the job So I should imagine everything will work out well.

As others have said, if those jobs were a while back, you can always say you were confused about dates and make amends.

If the dates are not too far out e.g you left in Sept but put Oct I wouldn’t worry. If they ask just say you must have been confused. Don’t tell them you lied!

Senior manager here. In my opinion these omissions are mostly totally fine and it's your call entirely about whether to include them on a CV. If they ask, and only if, which they won't, just say "ah yes, I didn't think you'd want me to include temporary work or any post I held for less than a month." Extending the dates is less good. Hopefully they won't ask about that one, but if it comes up just say it was an honest mistake, or you couldn't remember the exact dates so just guessed. That won't be a deal breaker. Don't do it again though. Ahem self-employment can cover a multitude of sins!

Just to say, I generally don't include anything on my CV where I was there less than 6 months! Just to keep it a manageable length as much as anything.

If I do I might just do it in a vague way like "Jan - June 2008, temporary work, employers include ACME Roadrunner Trap Corporation, Gregg Wallace Enterprises and Shipham's Fishpaste"

I would not worry about this given the circumstances you described.

Wait and see. If it's gaps/few months unaccounted they won't care. If they ask say you don't bother putting very short term jobs on your record - as someone who recruits regularly I'd prefer if more did this!

i've never heard of HMRC providing job check references - they take long enough to get through to on a tax enquiry, let alone attempting that!
I'd have thought it was a GDPR breach - HMRC don't hold your tax and employment data to provide a reference service to future employers, there is a reason you provide details of referees & permission to contact them.

That said, I might leave short jobs out of a CV or application form, but not lie about the dates of jobs I've been employed in.

I had to provide HMRC records for... last 5 years? to my new employer. I had to get the record from the government gateway site, and it listed employers and dates that I paid tax through each of them. I have extra security clearance for this job, though.

It'll probably be fine, if they call to ask if think just go with the "oh I got muddled up/forgot about that i was only there 2 weeks!"

I’d say nothing and let them check the last 3

I’d say nothing and let them check the last 3