white lying on a cv?

celligraphy

Hi guys currently sick of my current role, and looking to start applying for a few other jobs , I have worked previously in a finance role for 2 months, would it be terrible if I added another two months to it to make it look better ? p.s lost the job at the time due to the company loosing the contract

Del2005

No need to lie. Just say that you worked a financial role in the company.

PCX

I would save my white lies for things the would be unlikely to check up on.

Any job I have been offered they checked the details of previous employments.

celligraphy

Ok will do thanks , I'm just does it look bad being at a role for only two months / I'm a qualified bookkeeper now so that's kinda why I'm curious about doing so

Diziet

Don't lie. Lots of people have short roles for various reasons. Losing a contract is a perfectly good reason for a short stint.

Jim2007

celligraphy wrote: »

Hi guys currently sick of my current role, and looking to start applying for a few other jobs , I have worked previously in a finance role for 2 months, would it be terrible if I added another two months to it to make it look better ? p.s lost the job at the time due to the company loosing the contract

The problem with employers is that they do not stick to the references you give them. Recommending they employ someone is a big decision for manager as well, so if they happen to know someone in one of the places you worked you should assume they will make the call.

Everyone expects you'll embellishment your role a bit in the telling, but a blatant lie does not go down well.

skallywag

I don't really see the point OP, to me just 4 months in a role will not really trump 2.

ProudDUB

Doubling the amount of time that you worked for a company, is not a white lie. It's a bit of a whopper imo. A white lie (to me anyway) is something relatively minor, that would be hard to catch you out on, either in the interview, or when they do the reference checks afterwards. They can catch you out on this very easily. I wouldn't risk it.

ongarboy

Agree with above. You can white lie (or embellish as I call it) your skills and abilities somewhat (eg I excelled in delivering projects, or I have excellent attention to detail skills - you can possibly BS an example that may or may not be true) but you cannot lie about absolute facts that cannot be disputed (eg start and end date of a job) which a hiring employer can easily obtain from a previous employer. 
In fact, while personal references are increasingly non existent from employers due to litigation from employees who got less than favourable reviews, the only reference many companies are willing to give are confirmation that you were an employee of X company from X start date to X finish date.  Lying about this would immediately eliminate you from further consideration.

OP, heres your white lie. Put 2 month contract in brackets next to that role.

koumi

I had a FAS instructor who practically recommended lying on your CV, finished up my last job and decided to try it out by referencing my previous post as a shuttle pilot for SpacEx, whose responsibilities involved collecting space rocks and performing acoustic covers of David Bowie tracks and submitted it for a job. I got an email a couple of days later followed by a call from an agency, at which point I think they twigged it. It didn't help me get the job but it was the first callback from an application I had received since I started applying

ArtieBucco

I never put months down, just simply put the year down, for example last year I was in the same boat as yourself. I had 8 months with one company and 2 months with another. The 2 month company are a huge organisation, and I thought putting it on my CV would help me with job applications. So I just put down,

Job A - 2016 &
Job B - 2016.

When I got called for an interview I simply told them that I was temporary. I went on to tell them about my duties and how they where different from Job A...and what I could bring to them.

As for lies, I have always been honest with my CV, I had some gaps in my CV that I could not explain, but when an agency contacted me they asked to think of something to cover for those gaps. So I asked a friend who owns a bar to cover for me...not really proud of it but to be honest, I was getting nowhere with my job applications with the gaps in the CV. Now since I have the gaps covered, I have been been offered work every week since that.

OP, I know its different from your situation, but sometimes being too honest can get you nowhere, if you have the right set of skills when applying for a position, then it shouldn't stop you from getting to an interview.