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

@MarshaBradyo

Interesting thread

Personally I would not have said supermarket work but would have said exactly what happened

Client - tender won and date

We would have get agreement from a client to put their name on a CV - or to talk about them at interview, there are confidentiality clauses to consider here. Any of the consultants we recently interviewed did not mention their clients by name.

We would have get agreement from a client to put their name on a CV - or to talk about them at interview, there are confidentiality clauses to consider here. Any of the consultants we recently interviewed did not mention their clients by name.

I’m S/E and view the people as I work for my client so that’s who I was referring to.

The Dh has said the name of this company already. Just also embellished it.

which is a freelance client he has actually been working for

Op uses the same language

I'm the kind of person who would never not buy a bus/train ticket even if I knew I would never get caught or it was just one stop etc. He's the type who would chance it

Yesterday around noon,
@notacooldad

Yes, I read that bit but I interpreted it as an example of how honest Op is rather than something he had actually done, making out he's a risk taker.
If he is a fare dodger as well then he is a disgrace!

Plus it’s sector specific, my whole CV is filled with projects by name and detail no issue.

If it’s a niche area, he’s really not put himself in a great position at all. There are better ways to show he’s kept up with developments.

The problem isn’t the reference, it’s that he’s lied. Any employment relationship, whether employee or self employed freelancer, is based on trust. By lying, he has damaged that trust before he’s even started.

I work in HR and we would withdraw the offer. We would be unlikely to consider any further applications from him.

The manager in the function would probably (not saying this is right thing to do but it happens) could go around telling people to be wary of your DH as he lied on an application. In a niche area that word will spread. Your DH has been very very stupid.

Sorry @PeanutyButtery but I would prepare yourself for the job being withdrawn and a time when it is tricky to get a new one for him. I’m not being nasty, just telling you what I’ve seen myself in similar situations from the employer perspective.

It’s why a number of people suggest he withdraws and declines the job at this point. Better to do that than risk being found out now at this stage or later once employed and then sacked.

It would be best to start again with an honest CV and to have learned the lesson and be able to rest assured it wouldn’t come back to but him in the bum.

As others have said, the CV should identify that he went through the process to get work with the prestigious company and was approved as Covid hit.

However, it’s unlikely DH will consider withdrawing or OP will encourage him to either. They are very focused on him boosting the family income and prepared to take the risks of being found out. I’d imagine if he is found out, more lies and blagging would happen to cover up further. As others say, the risk is this is easily discovered too and double dishonesty is totally hated by employers.

The issue is when people don’t understand the implications of lying and morally cannot understand the problem either and have a risk-taking attitude of hoping to get away with it. Risk taking in the business world can be a valuable asset, but risk taking which involves lying is very different and isn’t valuable. I feel like DH and to a lesser extent, Op haven’t really accepted what the issues with this were. They think that if you can get away with it, it’s worth trying and the ends justify the means. It means they might well further lie to cover up any discovery and they might try something similar again in future, especially if they do get away with it now. Some people get a real kick out of geeking they ‘got one over’ on an employer or someone else and have a bit of rush from a sense of cunning they got away with. DH sounds like he might be in that category, although OP is clearly anxious about being caught out, perhaps more than the lie itself.

The thread might make some readers think twice about the blatant CV lies and possible consequences.

Don't undermine the job offer by saying anything at this point. Just wait a d see what comes back. If they say we contacted X and he didn't do any work for us then he can say well yes technically that is correct but I was contracted to work for them and therefore it was accurate to say I was working for them waiting for instructions. You could even go so far as to say that's why he is looking for the current job because the last one was not challenging!

If they employ him then find out later they could sack him, quite legally and bring charges for fraud.
It would be better to be honest now and
Say he wanted to work for them so much that enthusiasm beat disclosure.
If they do find out later they will inevitably dismiss him as who would trust his integrity and decision making?
I am in HR and have seen this a lot
Plus
The stress of wondering every day if he's been rumbled will be a killer.
And truth always does 'out'

Shoe me the person who does not tell a lie or two on their CV or at least garnish the truth!

Me. I don’t lie on my CV or varnish the truth.

Lovetoplan....those things would be tricky to say, because Op has said that DH actually listed tasks he performed in the fictions job by lifting them from the job description when he applied to be a consultant with them. He has gone well beyond saying he applied for contract work to saying he actually did it.

If he’s found out and called up on it, tempting as it might be to lie further, as other listers up thread say, firms are sometimes willing to accept an ‘error’ on a CV if people come clean when questioned (hard to see how that can be the case here when he would have to admit to making up the whole thing as he’s mentioned take he performed in a job which it might become clear he never had) but that if the person tried to lie their way out if it, it was a definite no and blacklisting.

So... yesterday DH got invited to an interview with another company. And guess what... he had applied with that same CV, arrgghhh!!

What would everyone do in THIS situation?

a) Send an email to ask HR to forward his up-to-date CV to the interview panel ahead of the interview, as the one he applied with was an old version. And obviously remove the consultancy from the CV

b) Say there was a mistake on the CV he applied with and give a new version

c) Withdraw his application

d) Something I haven't thought of?

@PeanutyButtery

So... yesterday DH got invited to an interview with another company. And guess what... he had applied with that same CV, arrgghhh!!

What would everyone do in THIS situation?

a) Send an email to ask HR to forward his up-to-date CV to the interview panel ahead of the interview, as the one he applied with was an old version. And obviously remove the consultancy from the CV

b) Say there was a mistake on the CV he applied with and give a new version

c) Withdraw his application

d) Something I haven't thought of?

I shouldn't laugh but what are the chances...!!

Definitely submit a revised CV and keep fingers crossed!!

E) Tell him if he continues this path of stupidity (failing to correct his deception on his CV) you're out?! How dishonest can you be?

Emphasise that he was a contractor and not directly employed by them. I've just undergone referencing for a position and one of my latest jobs was as a self-employed contractor. I offered the new employer their contact details, but as far as I'm aware, the business came back and said they could only confirm that they had contracted me. It was fine.

Wow. Wtf is he thinking?

If they say we contacted X and he didn't do any work for us then he can say well yes technically that is correct but I was contracted to work for them and therefore it was accurate to say I was working for them waiting for instruction That would make things worse - technically we have framework agreements with a few clients, we have just agreed the terms under which we would work if they were to give us a contract/a job - until they engage us in a job we are not working for them. What you are suggesting is being economical with the truth in deliberate attempt to mislead - anyone accepting an excuse like that has very low standards.

It's all a bit "ladder holder's mate" - it's not a real job!

Request to provide an updated CV, remove the cut & paste job, emphasise he was hired on a consultancy basis but didn’t actually do any work due to Covid. Then add the supermarket role.

OMG.
How many more has he got in the pipeline?

It’s hard to say it’s an out of date CV isn’t it without arousing suspicion, especially when the aspects he’s changing are the most recent work. However, Inthink this would be the best thing to do, accepting it might result in an interview not being offered.

Definitely best not to end up in an interview where this fictious job could well come up and he will then have to admit to lying or lie far more.

Yes, say there was a mistake on CV - it was written when he had was approved by the consultancy but before he did the work and he put the work down that he expected to do. He can emphasise that he was approved which is true. However....even here it involves lies doesn’t it.

He might have to write off any jobs he has applied to with this CV. Explaining it away can only be done with lies and herein lies the whole problem.

And then get him to delete any copies of the rogue CV anywhere it is stored (ie on job sites, not just on your laptop/computer)

I wouldn’t add supermarket work as per pp it’s not relevant experience for his work.

A. I did this recently and then accepted it with no issue. Mind you mine was accurate. He can honestly say the consultant work never panned out and leave it at that.

I think @WombatChocolate advice is excellent and if attention to detail is not very important and sometimes it isn't, they might be ok with it.

I would contact them to make sure they understand that he was taken on as a contractor with X company to do y and z, but in the end has not done any work for them.

Unless I’m missing something, I actually don’t think he’s done a lot wrong here. I work with a lot of freelancers, who often say they work with/for x, y, z company. That means they have passed all initial screening and their work is of a high enough standard for company x,y, z to add them to their list of contractors. They are given passwords and payroll info. But it still doesn’t mean they do any actual work for them. The work might not materialise, or the contractor gets an offer with someone else they’d rather work for. My DH has lots of contracts like this. It can change from week to week. All you do is say no to work calls when they ask if you want any work, or you ask them if there’s any work on offer.

@daisypond

I would contact them to make sure they understand that he was taken on as a contractor with X company to do y and z, but in the end has not done any work for them.

Unless I’m missing something, I actually don’t think he’s done a lot wrong here. I work with a lot of freelancers, who often say they work with/for x, y, z company. That means they have passed all initial screening and their work is of a high enough standard for company x,y, z to add them to their list of contractors. They are given passwords and payroll info. But it still doesn’t mean they do any actual work for them. The work might not materialise, or the contractor gets an offer with someone else they’d rather work for. My DH has lots of contracts like this. It can change from week to week. All you do is say no to work calls when they ask if you want any work, or you ask them if there’s any work on offer.

We would not consider someone being added to a framework agreement/call off agreement for a period of time as having worked for us for that period of time - that's just not the way it works. We had someone complete 2 weeks work for us in Oct - we have just taken them off payroll - if a new employer asked us for a reference it would not mention anything other that the two weeks and we'd feel it was more than a bit dishonest to suggest otherwise. Integrity is important and that means communication does not bend the truth.