Tell the truth or lie?

damo34

When I got my redundancy money a year and a half ago I went on a big bender and I guess I kinda forgot to stop...

I have my first job interview tomorrow and Im fairly sure they are going to ask about this gap. I dont want to outright lie to the man, and theres no way to dress up a year long bender, so Im just going to go in there and tell him outright "yeah... I fudged up, but Im making amends... and Im honest enough to say it to your face".

Has this approach worked for anyone in the past? Or should I just lie to him?

axiom

how about you got made redundant and haven't been able to find work since, and not mentioning any of the above ?

Pembily

damo34 wrote: »

When I got my redundancy money a year and a half ago I went on a big bender and I guess I kinda forgot to stop...

I have my first job interview tomorrow and Im fairly sure they are going to ask about this gap. I dont want to outright lie to the man, and theres no way to dress up a year long bender, so Im just going to go in there and tell him outright "yeah... I fudged up, but Im making amends... and Im honest enough to say it to your face".

Has this approach worked for anyone in the past? Or should I just lie to him?

It's a recession and I don't think they ask that anymore. I have been to 4 interviews lately and haven't been asked about my 6 month gap!

omen80

If they ask just say you can't remember because you were so out of it!

Bandana boy

say you went traveling

mikemac

You were in Australia for a year OP, working in a bar

You then did a few months in SE Asia too

whiskeyman

mikemac wrote: »

You were in Australia for a year OP, working in a bar

You then did a few months in SE Asia too

But were you on the dole while "travelling"?

edellc

so what if op was on the dole while "travelling" there is no way of an employer finding that out unless you tell them and thats none of their business


op hope you had a ball on your bender sadly reality has caught up with you best of luck with interview as previous posters said you can say you travelled, or due to recession found it hard to get work either way dont think employers care any more

Eoin

Interviewers won't be too surprised to get a candidate that's unemployed for a while. BUT they might well want to know what they did during this time. Did they sit on their hole the entire time, or do a course, or learn a new skill etc?

For the love of God, don't say you were on the piss for the entire time.

mickman

yes - say oz and was picking berries in the bush trying to find yourself so a reference isnt possible - dont mention the drink you donkey ;-)

Oranage2

I'd second travel - though I'd pick somewhere exotic - South America or central america, maybe bolivia -

jdooley28

I'd definitly lie about the gap if they ask with travel just have a good story ready. maybe use somewhere where you have already been, all good lies are based on the truth

damo34

Just thought Id update the situation..

I went into the interview and sure enough he asked me what I was doing with myself everyday. I decided to take the advice from everyone here and not to tell him the truth. Instead I told him that there was a lot of things I felt I missed out when I was younger and when I got my redundancy money I realised that I was in a "now or never" situation and that I made the most of it. He seemed to like that answer and said its a good trait in a man to make the best of a bad situation.. if only he knew!

It worked out well. He said he was impressed. But obviously not impressed enough to give me the job. Then again, if you saw the girl that was in before me, she was seriously hot... Im suprised he didnt give her the job on the spot. Hmm, I wish I did hiring and firing in a big company...!!

Oranage2

damo34 wrote: »

Just thought Id update the situation..

I went into the interview and sure enough he asked me what I was doing with myself everyday. I decided to take the advice from everyone here and not to tell him the truth. Instead I told him that there was a lot of things I felt I missed out when I was younger and when I got my redundancy money I realised that I was in a "now or never" situation and that I made the most of it. He seemed to like that answer and said its a good trait in a man to make the best of a bad situation.. if only he knew!

It worked out well. He said he was impressed. But obviously not impressed enough to give me the job. Then again, if you saw the girl that was in before me, she was seriously hot... Im suprised he didnt give her the job on the spot. Hmm, I wish I did hiring and firing in a big company...!!

How do you know you didnt get it?

Also agree with you about being HR, how exactly did they get that job, seems easy and also easy enough to abuse your power.

Eoin

Oranage2 wrote: »

Also agree with you about being HR, how exactly did they get that job, seems easy and also easy enough to abuse your power.

In fairness, it's not always a walk in the park by any means. There's a lot of crap that comes with the job. Getting a bit off topic though.

donkey balls

I know the op didn't get the job in the end but people have got To remember what sort of positions there going for and lying about doing a year in Oz and traveling around the world could catch them out,Take my situation did the Oz year thingy along with traveling through south america&Asia etc yet when going for a particular job I was asked to produce my passport as proof of my travels and to prove I wasn't locked up.

tatli_lokma

Donkey Balls has a point - while travelling is believeable, what would you do if the interviewer started quizzing you about it? asked where in Oz you lived? oh really? I lived there too....blah blah. AWKWARD! they might well cop that you are lying, but won't tell you that, so off you go thinking, sweet, it worked when really it didn't. But you take it as a sign to continue with your lie in other interviews and you might jeopardise future interviews.

Also, if you get the job, you could get caught out again, because once you lie that first time, you may have to continue the lie if you work with the person you interviewed with. That can be a quite a strain.

I think the approach OP took to put a spin on his situation rather than outright lie was a good choice.

Although there are lots of people with gaps on their CV's, depending on the jobs you are applying for, an employer might find it hard to believe that in 18mths you got nothing. They would expect that you were at least applying for jobs, probably going for at least a few interviews. They might ask you about that.

As OP did, spin the truth rather than outright lie - it only catches up with you in the end.

filthymcnasty

At its peak 11000+ one year working holiday visas were issued to Irish people for Oz alone, never mind those going to other countries.
I would say employers are well used to young and young-ish people taking a year out and thus having this 'gap' on their cv- so what? why would they hold it against them.

OP's query is pretty dumb to be honest: just say you were looking for work and don't say you were on the piss or whatever for a year.

tatli_lokma

filthymcnasty wrote: »

At its peak 11000+ one year working holiday visas were issued to Irish people for Oz alone, never mind those going to other countries.
I would say employers are well used to young and young-ish people taking a year out and thus having this 'gap' on their cv- so what? why would they hold it against them.

OP's query is pretty dumb to be honest: just say you were looking for work and don't say you were on the piss or whatever for a year.

I agree, it is believeable that someone would have a gap on their CV due to travelling. But this country is really a village. I have had several instances when in conversation I discovered that my path crossed with someone or someone's sister worked in the same place as me in Oz, or on another occasion a girl I was interviewing mentioned she worked in X retail outlet on Pitt St. I worked there and still have contact with the manager. The girl i was interviewing was not to know that. She wasn't lying, but had she been, what would she have done when I asked her 'how is Melissa?' (the manager). I would have known straight away she was lying had she been.

If you travelled and have a gap, fair enough. But to lie and say you travelled around SE Asia or Oz when you didn't could end up making you look like a plank if questioned on it. Better to take the actual facts and spin it positively rather than outright lie about a year spent travelling which didn't happen.

Andy!!

Just say you were looking for work; don't make up any silly nonsense about fictional trips. You'll have to regail your co-workers with stories of your travels if you get the job.