Lying on CV - dishonesty?

[fleur26]

Hello everyone

what are your thoughts on people who do not tell the truth about their professional career and work background, I personally would never lie in any circumstances, especially not on my CV, I value honesty. I assume it is challenging for recruiters to verify backgrounds of potential applicants when the standard work reference is limited.

I am not a journalist nor do I work in HR, simply interested in other views?

In the very early days of my career I definitely dressed up my role in a particular project or the responsibilities I carried out to make myself appear a better candidate for a role I knew I was capable of but didn’t have the experience in. I don’t need to do that any more, but I generally assume most people do similarly.

Outright lie about a job or employer, no. That would be daft.

There was a thread last year about a DC who had lied about his class of degree. The poster was in a panic because the new job had asked for a copy of his degree certificate. I’d love to know the outcome.

It’s crazy to lie on a CV, you’re bound to come unstuck and I would really judge someone as being untrustworthy in general if I’d found out they’d lied.

Depends what it is. Lying about having a degree or PhD is very different to changing a previous job title say from secretary to PA

What exactly do you mean by lie on CV? Plenty of people 'tailor' a CV for the role, in fact the recruitment advice strongly recommends doing this which you could argue is lying by omission.
Sometimes people tweak or overegg their role or impact in a job.
It's a sackable offence but I think many people get away with small fibs particularly if they end up getting on well with the bosses and know how to do the job. It's a different kettle of fish though if we are talking a whole, exaggerated CV. There are levels to lying and different reasons.
I wouldn't do it personally because I'm just too much of an anxious person to live with such a lie.

Don’t most people embellish? A little. “I stack shelves” “I replenish stock” - sounds better.

Streamlining and managing administrative processes- basically moving and copying paper files on to a database.

If you mean pretending you have an MBA when you don’t then that’s lying! Or that you’re a managing director when you’re a secretary.

The three people who admitted to having tweaked their CV and made up some lies to fill in job gaps are also the ones who have benefit cheated. In their case, they saw lying as no big deal (white lies) and a means to getting what they want. They had no sense of guilt or shame about it.
They felt entitled to the job: I can do it, so and so can do it and they ain't better than me and in the case of benefits they felt they deserved money from government because they had been taxpayers and that 'everyone else' seems to be nicking money off (i.e. politicians) so what's wrong with them the little fish having a tiny bit? That was their logic. Me personally I'd be mortified and forever feeling ashamed and guilty if that was me.

This is very interesting. Out and out lying (such as the degree classification) is not ok I think. But there's a whole class of tactics that can be described as 'representing information in the best possible light' if you are feeling generous, or 'manipulating the facts' if you are not. This is something of a grey area. Successful people do a lot of this, on job applications and throughout their career. Men do it more than women, and middle class people more than working class people. It could be argued that it's actually a key skill. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Well in some cases it would be a Criminal l offence, 'obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception'. If you claim to have a qualification you don't have which is a pre requisite of the job would fall into this category.

I know someone who told a small lie about their maths GSE grade to get a job. They have gone on to get a qualification in a job that having a better maths grade would not matter. It all depends on what the actual lie is. Some people are not academic at all but are exceptional in an occupation they love. My sister was really brainy, got a scholarship and did very well in exams, she’s never worked a day in her life! I was the dumb one, and became qualified in a profession, with a 40 year career. Did not have any grades that would be important in todays world, but did very well because I was interested in what I decided to do professionally. Sometimes people need to be given a chance!

I've had a really varied career (though all related to the same professional area in one way or another) and I get exasperated when people either tell me I must have exaggerated in some way or tell me everyone lies on their CV. No, not everyone does. Now I'm over 50 and finding it harder to move jobs I might have to start compressing that experience though and leaving dates of older qualifications off and it is irritating me beyond description.

When it comes to serious fraudsters who get their jobs by lying, I also blame HR departments for not checking qualifications more thoroughly, if I think how the NHS, for instance, used to be so red hot on seeing original certificates and that all seems to have gone by the by now.

There are also people out there who seem to think nothing of either forging or buying their qualifications and it always astonishes me how senior so many of them are. Astounding how many interviewers are taken in by a posh accent, a smart suit, and friends in high places...then again, maybe not when you see the tossers who are our so called leaders these days!

I worked with someone as a teacher who said he had a teaching qualification and 5 years later someone in HR checked and it turned out he hadn't, he'd used his wife's, and got sacked for lying on his application form. I found him on Soc media recently and there's no mention on his cv of ever teaching it's like it's been erased from his past.

I was an advisor to an interview panel and one of the candidates I knew from some work if done with her and she turned up at the interview to do a demonstration lesson using my plan that she'd copied from me claiming that it was hers, I even recognised my style of writing. If she'd asked me before I'd have given some advice and guidance but she hadn't. She didn't get the job

The moral is be careful what you lie about

Another one is the son of an acquaintance who on his cv has listed the courses he's done and affiliations to various organisations. I took an interest in him and his work as the son of a friend and one day noticed he'd attended a college I'd attended so checked out what year and I couldn't find him listed so I checked a few other things he said he'd attended, etc couldn't find any link with him.

I don't lie on my CV
I don't need to lie

The last few jobs, I've had to produce lots of original ID & all my original qualification certificates

We have let go of people who have started, as upon checking their references (which isn’t always compete before start date), HR have uncovered falsifications (exam results) or missing declarations of disciplinary procedures etc.

Group policy is always instant dismissal, even if the hiring manager wanted to override.

It’s just not worth it.

I’ve never out and out lied on my CV but I ensure my involvement in projects and all other aspects of my role are never underestimated

This. I know of someone who lied about holding a professional qualification who then got sacked as a result. I have no sympathy for people like that.

I think out and out lying is absolutely a sign they lack integrity. I’ve known people to have job offers withdrawn when it’s been discovered they lied about their current salary to negotiate a higher entry point on the salary scale, because it showed a dishonest side to them.

Everyone puts their best face forward on job applications or their cv, but outright lying is a huge red flag to me.

I wouldnt lie you always caught out at some point. If asked at interview do I know x computer package I just say no.

I won't employ , hire, or do business with liars and fakers.

Most liars are so bad at it, (in person or in writing) it's rarely hard to detect, check and unpick their lies, so its absolutely self-defeating.

I do think that sometimes when people do this they don’t think past the point of getting the job, ie. What happens when they can’t do what they are supposed to have loads of experience in, we’ve had that happen a few times at work

Never lie about qualifications. You can "enhance" your experience if you have the know what you are talking about.

It's never OK.

If you have to lie to have a chance of a job, you're going for the wrong job. If you want that sort of job, get the quals / experience needed for it.

It's wrong morally; it's unfair on other candidates who are better qualified or experienced than - they've put in the effort to get the right experience but the lying applicant wants to get there by the shortcut; it's unfair on employers who end up with someone who doesn't have the right experience; you're likely to get found out (either the actual lie, or just by all your colleauges noticing you can't do what you should be able to do) which is at best embarassing (and could affect future progress) and at worst gets you the sack.

There is literally no good reason to lie. And the only 'good' thing to come out of it is getting a job you aren't ready for, at the expense of someone who worked for it.

They felt entitled to the job: I can do it, so and so can do it and they ain't better than me and in the case of benefits they felt they deserved money from government

You can't have it both ways though can you? you're moaning people feel entitled to have a job and if they don't have one you moan they feel entitled to benefits.
If someone lies to get a job and gets off benefits and betters themselves, good on them.
I'd rather someone felt entitled to have a job and did what they had to do to to find employment (even if that means a bit of fabrication) but if they don't and are honest and let's face it that could make them unemployable for just being honest then they'll have to claim the benefits they are entitled to instead.

I kind of hid away a year of study that I didn't complete. It was more than two decades ago and my cv reads something (not exactly) like: study x from 1996-1997 and worked at several jobs from 1998-1999. I omitted months and tbh it doesn't add anything to what I can do. I don't lie about any degrees or certificates or abilities.

I couldn't tell you what/when the truth is now and it's so long ago so who cares.

I wouldn’t lie about qualifications or the actual jobs. I’ve made slight exaggerations about responsibilities or experience before

I don't see why this is such a big issue. Why are you making it so? Big difference between stretching and out and outright lying. I changed my Cv from 20 odd years ago, got rid of one short tempting job, and stretched the months of old job and then new job to imply I just went from one job to the next. Neither company exists anymore. No one is gonna check. Doesn't keep me awake at night.