Husband lied on CV - offered job but they want a reference!

[PeanutyButtery]

DH lost his job last February and he's finally been offered a job back in his field. He's been working in a supermarket for the last six months.

He left the supermarket job off his CV because it's not relevant and instead put that he's been working as a consultant for an organisation (prestigious well-known company that's relevant to the new role) from last March until now. Problem is that he won a tender to provide that organisation with services, signed a contract and everything but they never actually sent him any work.

HR called this week to say that they are offering him the job and does he accept. He said yes and then they asked for references. He gave two people from his previous employer but HR replied asking specifically for a reference from X organisation as it's his "current employer".

He replied to say that since that consultancy has ended, HR can contact the company he is working for right now (which is a freelance client he has actually been working for). But he did put the email address for a contact person at X organisation.

I'm so worried they are going to contact X organisation who will say sorry but this guy never worked for us, and that they'll rescind the offer (it's only an oral offer anyway). DH doesn't seem so worried. He was convinced they wouldn't contact references, but actually his previous employer and freelance client have both said they've already been contacted.

Is there anything he can do to fix this situation? It's been two days and nothing... they contacted the references immediately who both replied that same day

I didn’t lie on my cv but my company told me they got no response from one employer. Hopefully, they just don’t respond

I think he has to be prepared that they might reject him for the job offer.

Sometimes it just happens that there’s no way to get a reply from one reference, because the company is gone or nobody responds, etc. In those cases, the hiring company decide whether they have enough from the other references, if they want another reference from elsewhere, or if that company/experience was pivotal to the job and they rescind the offer.

So the OPs DH stands a good chance, unless his protests at giving that reference in the first place have raised suspicions and made it more important to the hiring company. They may well be thinking that it didn’t go well, rather than that he didn’t actually do any work for them.

Someone asked about self employed people - you generally have to get a reference from your accountant instead. If you don’t have an accountant, you’re in the same position as anyone else who doesn’t have references, whether that’s because the companies have closed, or things didn’t end well with a previous employer, or you’ve never worked before... generally looking for entry-level jobs, or an employer who is understanding on the reference point.

Taking temp work of some description or doing volunteer work so that you can get references from those places isn’t uncommon in normal times; either.

I’d be too scared of encountering a background check firm doing the employment checks to fudge anything on my CV. They dig into EVERYTHING, and I’ve had them for the randomest jobs - I guess if the company has a contract with one, they’ll use them for everything.

I'm really surprised by how many posters are hoping he gets the job.

What about the 2nd choice person who didn't lie on their CV how now maybe doesn't have a job because a Billy Bullshitter thinks a supermarket job is beneath his CV

No grey area for me, he'd be out as soon as I found out. I've never lied or even bent the truth on my CV that would be a red flag for me as an employer that I couldn't trust the person before they even started

It isn’t about a supermarket job being ‘beneath’ anyone.

However, the way such jobs are perceived will be that you took that because no one else wanted to employ you: that’s not what I think but it’s how it looks to some employers.

@daisiesanddaffodils

It isn’t about a supermarket job being ‘beneath’ anyone.

However, the way such jobs are perceived will be that you took that because no one else wanted to employ you: that’s not what I think but it’s how it looks to some employers.

Who are these employers who have slept the past year and think that supermarket jobs are only for those who can't get a job anywhere else?

Not sure I'd want to work for an organisation that out of touch with reality

Wasn't good of your DH to do this, let's hope they're understanding.

I recall a friend of my DB's years ago lying about his qualifications - funnily enough saw him for the first time in ages last weekend!

I've temped on contracts for the past 3 years and if I've had short gaps I say I'm working for my DB who's a photographer/in filming - and I have actually worked for him sometimes. I have to brief my DB as referee seekers from companies have approached him in the past.

@ShipOfTheseus

Companies aren’t obliged to give a reference. What do people do then? What if the company no longer exists? Not one of the companies I previously worked for is still in existence- bought out, taken over, subsumed into something else. What do self-employed people do who don’t have an employer?

I know someone who got offered a dream job but because a previous employer wouldn’t provide a reference the job offer was withdrawn.

They will more than likely contact the company. I’d be honest.

@MoreWater

He should contact them and grovel / error of judgement / etc.

Even if he's appointed and works for them, they can use this to dismiss him at any stage if they subsequently find out.

I withdrew an offer from a potentially great candidate for a senior role in my own business when they could not provide the certification they said that they had. I had no doubt that they had the capability and the experience. But the trust was gone.

Better to be straight now and deal with it than have it hanging over you both.

While I don't condone lying - why do you think that the paperwork more important than the capability and experience? Surely it's better to look for someone with the experience that you need? Qualifications only prove that you can pass exams.

Seems a shame to pass on a potentially great candidate with the right skills - just because they don't tick a box.

flying if I had a supermarket job on my CV, it would look bad.

Grinning and saying ‘well I wouldn’t want to work there then’ doesn’t pay bills.

Silly of him.

The irony is that given the pandemic the new employers would likely be understanding given the past years situation, and the fact he's remained in employment would have been an advantage.

@FlyingBurrito

I'm really surprised by how many posters are hoping he gets the job.

What about the 2nd choice person who didn't lie on their CV how now maybe doesn't have a job because a Billy Bullshitter thinks a supermarket job is beneath his CV

No grey area for me, he'd be out as soon as I found out. I've never lied or even bent the truth on my CV that would be a red flag for me as an employer that I couldn't trust the person before they even started

Agree and it would really piss me off if DH had done this. It would make me think less of him. Honesty is a really important quality to me.

If your DH doesn't seem bothered, I wouldn't waste my time worrying about it. It's his issue to deal with. I WOULD be expecting him to still be applying for roles though, as this job isn't a dead cert by any means.

Maybe he should pull out now before they find out?

References here in Germany have to conform to special rules, but of course the actual wording is key. But you are entitled to have one in writing. If it said "x worked here between y and z" you'd never work again

@daisiesanddaffodils

flying if I had a supermarket job on my CV, it would look bad.

Grinning and saying ‘well I wouldn’t want to work there then’ doesn’t pay bills.

I totally understand if you aren't comfortable to say but what industry values employees doing nothing during a pandemic over a work ethic of getting a supermarket job to support their family rather than relying on state aid?

I genuinely don't understand that mind set

He should have been honest from the start. The gamble he now has to take is, keep shtum and hope they don’t probe/find out, or ‘fess up now and hope that by doing so and explaining the circumstances, they will take a lenient view.

I was involved in recruiting someone. The day they started, we got wind that they had had another job which they had omitted from their CV, and from which they had jumped before they were pushed. They had falsified end-dates of the previous (multiple part-time) jobs to cover the gap.

I told them we had discovered some discrepancies in their CV and called them to a meeting at which they would be asked to account for them. They emailed me a new version of their CV including the missed out job, with the explanation that they had sent an earlier, incomplete version from their computer. However, I queried the metadata on the file, and that showed that the “new” CV was very new, it had been created that day, not a couple of months before when they applied. Plus this did not explain why they had not offered a referee from that job, which was more recent than one from which they did offer a referee. We then got a reference from the missed job, which did not make good reading.

When we had the meeting, we told them that, had they mentioned the job and said it didn’t end well and here’s why, or had they fessed up as soon as we discovered it and explained the circumstances, we might have been sympathetic and we may have taken them on, under increased supervision. But given that they had lied to start with and then lied again to try to cover it up, we had no option but to withdraw the offer.

It isn’t about doing nothing vs a supermarket job.

No one would do a supermarket job by choice, so really the message is ‘I couldn’t get work in my field’.

Well, there's a chance he will be found out and if he does, he ought to then just admit it and accept it if the job is rescinded. He can hardly feel put out about it but will need to accept it graciously as his just desserts. Further lying to try and wriggle out of it would be pretty bad and actually says a lot about his character if he does that. We all sometimes make errors of judgement. This was one and if found out we need to out our hands up to it and accept the consequences.

He might get away with it. They might not follow up the reference or somehow it might not come out.

If he does get away with it, I hope he decides he won't do that again, rather than getting away with it confirming to him that lying does pay. Again, his view of it all whatever the final outcome will say a lot about his character.

If my DH did this, I'd be cross with him and disappointed. I could swallow it much more if he had a sense of having done something wrong and foolish, but would find it difficult if he wither pursued the lie and lied further if found out, or got away with it and was exultant about his cunning.

You'll have to put up with the uncertainty now. Point out to him that you're finding it horrible and stressful even if he isn't. Tell him you don't want him to do this kind of thing again.

PuzzledObserver, interesting case study. I agree that if someone is found out, the worse thing they can do is to lie and dig themselves in further. Putting your hands up to a mis-judgement is never easy, but the braver thing. You might still lose out, but there is a chance people will value your honesty and see something in your character which is positive, despite the error. Liars who will never admit to their lies or take personal responsibility for their actions are the worst peoole to work with.

Employers tend not to give bad references as it's just a waste of their time.
He should have been honest, only white lie if you can properly back up with evidence.
All the best for this one and 🤞 it doesn't fall through as it sounds like a good job that be beneficial financially

I think HR are trained to be suspicious when people are a bit cagey about which references they want taken up and resist certain ones.....this is a red flag to them and they are then more likely to pursue it.

I'm also surprised by how many people seem to condone what he did or to hope it works out well.

I think it might get away with it, or he might not. Either way, the crucial thing is a realisation that this wasn't the right thing to do and decision not to do it again. If it's instead a thinking that 'ha, got away with it, will do that again' then that would be very disappointing. Lots of people who are prone to lies like this would take the view that if they get away with it, they'll do it again. OP knows her DH and if he's likely to learn a lesson from this or not.

He should tell the truth, that he was contracted but didn't actually do any work and that his most recent employer was Asda/Tesco/Wherever.

This job's a goner but this is a learning experience - don't lie on your CV. You can be creative, you can make the most mundane job sound like a fantastic career opportunity, but lying reveals the applicant to be dishonest and deceitful.

Lots of very po faced people on this thread - who amongst us hasn't exaggerated at least a little bit when we really need a job?

I reckon he might well get away with it - as PP said, he was on their books, so he was qualified etc, he just didn't do any actual work for them. Good luck to him I say!

I think there's a difference between a minor exaggeration or saying something which is open to interpretation and a direct lie....claiming to have been doing a job that you didn't do is a direct lie. I'm not sure pointing that out is being po faced.

But, these kind of threads show that there is a definite spectrum of what people consider acceptable and a number of people are happy to condone outright lies and hope the person who delivers them gets away with it. Personally I think claiming you've done a job for an employer for 6 months that you never did, whilst you were actually working for someone else doing a different job is morally dubious. I can see some people think it's fine though which is interesting.

Personally I think claiming you've done a job for an employer for 6 months that you never did, whilst you were actually working for someone else doing a different job is morally dubious.

I think so too.