Lying on CV

yutta

"My mate" (yes, my mate) said he worked at a job for 3.5 years, but only worked there 3 years.

Do you reckon that's a serious HR no-no? I.e. instant no-job if found out?

Pembily

yutta wrote: »

"My mate" (yes, my mate) said he worked at a job for 3.5 years, but only worked there 3 years.

Do you reckon that's a serious HR no-no? I.e. instant no-job if found out?

If he worked there from 31 August 07 - 1 February 11 and just put down Aug 07 - Feb 11 it's not too bad but any further stretch than that is a bad idea IMO!

Delancey

Bah ! 6 months is neither here nor there IMO.

Dymo

I don't think it makes that much of a difference, the object is to get the interview and the only way to make that happen is by the impressing on the CV. A couple of white lies isn't going to make that much of a difference as long as you can back them up.

Once you get to the interview stage, the CV isn't as important, its whether you can do the job or not

CardBordWindow

A friend of mine who recently went to Australia informed me that I was his reference on his CV, and that if I got a call from an Australian guy asking about him, tell him that he worked for me drawing silage for 3 months!

allibastor

everyone lies a bit CV. just as long as the lie isnt something completly out of left field they should be fine. dont just make up stuff to look good, but stretching the truth on what you did is ok.

chicken fingers

Not everyone.

My CV is toned down completely as some of the jobs I've done are almost unbelievable.
In my CV I list one job as an operations assistant rather than an operations manager, because nobody would believe that when I was 22 I was managing a large multimillion dollar program.

My references, personality and most importantly proven results speak for themselves.

D1stant

You dont need to tell us you're great. Twice

allibastor

chicken fingers wrote: »

Not everyone.

My CV is toned down completely as some of the jobs I've done are almost unbelievable.
In my CV I list one job as an operations assistant rather than an operations manager, because nobody would believe that when I was 22 I was managing a large multimillion dollar program.

My references, personality and most importantly proven results speak for themselves.

and by the way, toning down is still also lying as your not fully explaining what you did. you are still altering your cv to make you more employable, even if it is toning it down to suit a new role;)

RATM

One question I always ask employers when doing reference checks is how long the employee in question actually worked there. A good HR department can pull that information (to the actual start and finish date) up in no time.

In the case of this happening your friend then he would be caught out. Sure the little white lie on his CV might well get him an interview but it is at the job offer stage when reference checks are done. And if someone said that they have no references for a job in which they worked 3.5 years I would immediately get suspicious and be asking some awkward questions as to why not, as would the clients I work for, or any employer worth their salt for that matter.

All in all the difference between 3 years and 3.5 years is minimal. Your mate would be better off telling the truth in the long run, especially if they really want the job. Would be a shame to be offered it and then have it withdrawn later due to reference checks failing him.

To answer your question OP, if found out it is an instant job refusal- any trust built up with the employer is instantly broken. They'll be wondering what other lies are on the CV and also wondering what other lies he might get up to in the course of working for them. Dishonesty is not a trait employers are keen on, period.

Chessala

I don't really see the gain for your friend either?

Is he trying to hide 6 months of unemployment? As long as he has a decent explanation I don't see a problem with that. Why risk it if he really wants the job so much? This might be exactly why he doesn't get it.

If he still has an interview to come then he would indeed be better off admitting it...

chicken fingers

Agree, the only reason to try to stretch 3 to 3.5 is to cover unemployment, but to be frank, its very easy for your new company to discover this factoid.

D1stant wrote: »

You dont need to tell us you're great. Twice

I have no problem saying to anybody that I am successful and I pity anybody who spends their time begrudging others success.

Bandana boy

If this is for an active employment I wouldn't worry about it.
It could be explained as being part time for 6 months before being made permanent and that you officially worked for an agency during that time.

In the future ,if the lie is to cover up a period of unemployment ,I would show the inactive period on the cv and if asked about it ,a better lie, would be to say you went traveling.
Especially if your of a certain age ,knowing you have got a travel bug out of your system might be seen as a plus.

looksee

allibastor wrote: »

everyone lies a bit CV. just as long as the lie isnt something completly out of left field they should be fine. dont just make up stuff to look good, but stretching the truth on what you did is ok.

Link? Evidence?

D1stant

chicken fingers wrote: »

I have no problem saying to anybody that I am successful and I pity anybody who spends their time begrudging others success.

Bless you. I wasn't begrudging your success (whatever that means). Just your attitude

You must be older than 22 now so..obviously moved on from the mere tittle tattle of multi million projects ...

tonight Matthew you are....













Bill Gates or Barrack Obama. right?

murpho999

chicken fingers wrote: »

I have no problem saying to anybody that I am successful and I pity anybody who spends their time begrudging others success.

Fair enough,but thing is nobody asked you if you were succesful.

dudara

D1stant and other posters Please help your post helpful and on-topic.

dudara

Mrs OBumble

allibastor wrote: »

and by the way, toning down is still also lying as your not fully explaining what you did. you are still altering your cv to make you more employable, even if it is toning it down to suit a new role;)

Not necessarily.

One of my CVs says that I gathered, analysed and documented functional and non-functional requirements for operational and financial systems, and assisted with UAT and system implementation tasks of the subsequent development project.

A different version says that I made changes on the computer system.

IMHO this is toned down to meet audience comprehension levels, and but no lies are told.

allibastor

IMHO this is toned down to meet audience comprehension levels, and but no lies are told.[/QUOTE]


depends on your definiation of lies then. i would say any alteration of what your key functions were was a lie, a white lie, and as you said toned down to meet audience comprehension, but still you did not disclose all the facts. anyway its a bit of a moot point as everyone has to alter their CV to the specific company role. if we didnt add or subtract portions of the CV none of us would move out of the roles we occupy now.