Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Lying on your CV

2»

Comments

  • #32
    Lanaier
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 604 ✭✭✭Lanaier


    steve9859 wrote: »
    I couldn't believe the hard evidence that I had to supply to prove exam grades, extra curricular achievements, a reference for every job on my CV. Even had to prove that I was unemployed and looking for work during a gap in the CV by submitting job-hunting emails and screenshots from job search websites with application confirmations. OK, it was a big London company withj a well resourced HR team, but haveing spoken to some recruitement firms, it appears that it is now commonplace
    ....

    Seems a bit extreme tbh.

    Never lied on a CV, sounds like more hassle than it's worth.
    As for using friends as a reference.... I happen to now be really good mates with some people I worked for in the past, they really were my bosses so what can you do? :pac:

    In fact when I look at my last three job references they are all people I still meet for pints.
    Guess it pays to get on well with the boss :)


  • #33
    bleg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,848 ✭✭✭bleg


    Nah I'm deadly so I don't need to lie.


  • #34
    Mike 1972
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,018 ✭✭✭Mike 1972


    Lanaier wrote: »
    Never lied on a CV, sounds like more hassle than it's worth.

    Unless youve just recently emerged from prison or career to date has been a litanny of disaster on the scale of Frank Spencer it most certainely is.

    On the other hand there is a fine line between telling actual lies and subtle exxaguration or omitting/brushing over unfavorable/embarrasing details whiich just about everyone does.

    When you send out a CV you are selling yourself and advertising your services and when did you ever hear an advertiser or a salesperson tell the full truth ?

    Employers and (especially) agencies know (and expect) this (especially if one is going for a career in sales/advertising) and are effectively doing the same themselves when theyre telling you what a fantastic opportunity they are offering you to work for their wonderful company.

    Just a little bull$hit makes the world go 'round !


  • #35
    Larianne
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,954 ✭✭✭✭Larianne


    Yep, when I was 18/19 after my first job in Dunnes stores. I said I was awarded Employee of the Month when I applied for a promotions job. The HR lady rang up asking about me. They couldn't remember me, nevermind any ficitious award recieved. :( HR lady did get a date out of it with HR man though. :pac:

    Have never lied since though.


  • #36
    manual_man
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,267 ✭✭✭✭manual_man


    fryup wrote: »
    Have you done it??

    Given yourself a higher grade in an exam, lied about previous jobs and positions you held, lied about certain skills you have, put down mates as referees etc etc

    so did you do it and more importantly have you ever been caught out ..if so what were the consequences??

    I think most people lie. But in most cases not to the degree you said. For example my mate went through a rough time there recently after graduating 18 months without a job. he put on his cv he spent a year of that travelling even though he didn't, he was worried potential employers might see him as "unemployable" with an 18 month gap on his cv, so i can see why he did it


  • Advertisement
  • #37
    Mike 1972
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,018 ✭✭✭Mike 1972


    I hope none of the posts admitting to blatent fibs are being made from work :pac:
    Larianne wrote: »
    HR lady did get a date out of it with HR man though. :pac:

    One might be very suprised at the degree to which HR people in particular areas of the country and/or industry sectors know each other anyway.

    I got my first serious job at a company Id hitherto never even heard of by applying for a job someplace else and the HR guy there passing my details on (Nowadays this would have some folks screaming about data protection but back in the day there was less of an issue made of such things and having landed a job which was largely a piece of p1$$ and was paying me considerably more than I deserved at the time I was hardly going to be the one to).

    It was explained to me on the interview how this state of affairs had worked to my advantage. It was also made subtlelly (but not too subtlelly) clear to me on the first day how this could also work to my disadvantage should things not work out.


  • #38
    Batsy
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭Batsy


    A few days ago it was revealed that 70% of Irish workers have lied on their CV.

    I daren't lie on my CV. It's against the law to do that in Britain. A couple of years ago a young woman was jailed for lying in her CV. The maximum penalty for lying on your CV is ten years in prison.


  • #39
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    Batsy wrote: »
    A few days ago it was revealed that 70% of Irish workers have lied on their CV.

    I daren't lie on my CV. It's against the law to do that in Britain. A couple of years ago a young woman was jailed for lying in her CV.
    Lol, sure she was...

    By whom was this thing revealed a few days ago?


  • #40
    tempura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 604 ✭✭✭tempura


    steve9859 wrote: »
    I have embellished very heavily in the past, but when I decided to move to London, and started applying for jobs, I was advised to not lie at all, and be pretty truthful about extra curricular stuff, as everything is checked. I wouldnt have done anyway, as my experience now speaks for itself.

    But the fact is that the advice was spot on. I couldn't believe the hard evidence that I had to supply to prove exam grades, extra curricular achievements, a reference for every job on my CV. Even had to prove that I was unemployed and looking for work during a gap in the CV by submitting job-hunting emails and screenshots from job search websites with application confirmations. OK, it was a big London company withj a well resourced HR team, but haveing spoken to some recruitement firms, it appears that it is now commonplace

    Plus of course internet searches that I have no doubt that the employer did. Long story short - you cant lie any more and get away with it - at least not in London. A bit of embellishment (eg. You had direct reports of 8 when it was actually only 4) would go unnoticed. But saying that you had direct reports when you didnt have any would get found out.


    Christ, who was the interview with MI5 ?


  • #41
    Batsy
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭Batsy


    Dudess wrote: »
    Lol, sure she was...

    It's against the law to lie on CVs in Britain. You can be jailed for up to ten years for doing so.
    By whom was this thing revealed a few days ago?
    77% of jobseekers lie on CV, survey finds
    Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/77-of-jobseekers-lie-on-cv-survey-finds-181206.html#ixzz1klXxZ9Ib
    Almost 70pc of Irish workers lie on their C.V. http://www.joe.ie/news-politics/current-affairs/almost-70pc-of-irish-workers-lie-on-their-cv-0019901-1
    Survey shows 68% of workers lie on CV
    http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/survey-shows-68-of-workers-lie-on-cv-536966.html#ixzz1klYEkc57

    Nearly 70% lied on their CV, says survey http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/recommended/nearly-70-lied-on-their-cv-says-survey/

    Almost 70pc have lied on their CVs http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=2900142;s=rollingnews.htm

    68% of Irish workers have lied in their CV http://insideireland.ie/2012/01/23/68-of-irish-workers-have-lied-in-their-cv-50684/


  • Advertisement
  • #42
    Abi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,058 ✭✭✭✭Abi


    Nope, I've never lied on my CV. I've never put any of my school results in it, because nobody actually gives a fcuk. They're more interested in your training and work experience. I've never walked out of an interview and didn't get the job.


    A friend of mine a few years back was having trouble getting work, his ex boss was an absolute bastard to him, so he left. Even when he left his boss was still being a cnut to him, and any time he received a call from a company looking to employ my friend, he was giving bad references to them.

    So I told my friend to give me his CV, I re-jigged it a bit to target the kind of work he was looking for, and as his last employer I put my mobile number in.

    Within days I got a call from a prospective employer, and I basically told the truth about my friend, he never missed a days work unless he was really ill, and was competent in his work. He got the job and finally shook off his prick boss. Illegal, yes. But my friend was so depressed over not working, I had to do something. He's still in the job and happy, and thats over ten years ago :)


  • #43
    Mike 1972
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,018 ✭✭✭Mike 1972


    Unless one is just out of school/college (and doesnt have much in the way of work experience) It is pointless going into too much detail about ones exam results. And if one is qualified to say degree level or above nobody gives a monkeys how one did in their Junior cert/GCSE's back in the day. Lying about ones exam results is pretty stupid though since its so easy to get caught out although its amazing how lax many employers still are when it comes to actually checking.
    Batsy wrote: »
    I daren't lie on my CV. It's against the law to do that in Britain. A couple of years ago a young woman was jailed for lying in her CV. The maximum penalty for lying on your CV is ten years in prison.

    Are you sure about this ?

    I was told its a civil rather than a criminal offence and that it only applied in respect of application forms (which unlike CV's are usually signed by the applicant) which is why many employers only accept application forms now (pain in the @r$€; that they are).

    Id imagine one could be only actually jailed for forged/altered paperwork (exam certs or documents proving eligibility to work in the UK) and anything else would just be a matter for a lawsuit ?
    Abi wrote: »
    A friend of mine a few years back was having trouble getting work, his ex boss was an absolute bastard to him, so he left. Even when he left his boss was still being a cnut to him, and any time he received a call from a company looking to employ my friend, he was giving bad references to them.
    Under some circumstances (if she was able to prove it) she could have had a case for defamation against her.

    Employers have been sued for giving both bad and good references which is why many employers wont give them now other than to confirm that the employee worked for them between specified dates. Many employees dont bother checking references either (although some sectors -particularly the civil service still insist on doing so) because they know theyre a load of crap and that people are going to be very selective about who they choose to name as references.


  • #44
    Lanaier
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 604 ✭✭✭Lanaier


    Abi wrote: »
    Nope, I've never lied on my CV. I've never put any of my school results in it,

    Same, never been asked either.

    Was a massive waste of time school was (for me).


  • #45
    holystungun9
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,933 ✭✭✭holystungun9


    Lying on your CV results in a crumpled up piece of paper. Your prospective boss will not look kindly on your crappy presentation.


















    Apologies for the lame joke. :o


  • #46
    Abi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,058 ✭✭✭✭Abi


    Mike 1972 wrote: »
    Employers have been sued for giving both bad and good references which is why many employers wont give them now other than to confirm that the employee worked for them between specified dates. Many employees dont bother checking references either (although some sectors -particularly the civil service still insist on doing so) because they know theyre a load of crap and that people are going to be very selective about who they choose to name as references.
    Oh yeah, I know it's something you could sue for. But his boss was kind of doing it indirectly from what I gather. This is during a time when jobs were two-a-penny, interviews were going very well and they more or less were giving him the work until they made their reference calls. Then the John dear letters came out. My friend knew what was going on and he didn't know how to get out of it, so I edited out his bosses name and put in a fake name. I told my friend to contact his 'ex boss' by mobile rather than landline because 'she' was often out on call outs. Worked a treat ;)
    Lanaier wrote: »
    Same, never been asked either.

    Was a massive waste of time school was (for me).

    Most of the subjects were of little use to me when I left school. It was the training I did after that was of benefit, that's what got me my first job.


  • #47
    stovelid
    Closed Accounts Posts: 27,252 ✭✭✭✭stovelid


    Nobody should even mention school results on a CV unless you've just left.

    Two pages is all I ever use: third-level and professional qualifications, summary of employment and me skillz.

    Sorted.


  • #48
    Batsy
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭Batsy


    Mike 1972 wrote: »


    Are you sure about this ?

    I was told its a civil rather than a criminal offence and that it only applied in respect of application forms (which unlike CV's are usually signed by the applicant) which is why many employers only accept application forms now (pain in the @r$€; that they are).

    Id imagine one could be only actually jailed for forged/altered paperwork (exam certs or documents proving eligibility to work in the UK) and anything else would hjust be a matter for a lawsuit ?

    It is illegal to lie on your CV in the UK. You can be jailed for up to ten years for doing so.

    In March 2010, Rhiannon Mackay was jailed for six months for lying on her CV.

    To get the job of capital projects administrator with Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, she falsely claimed to have two A levels and also forged a letter of recommendation. She used the same false CV to apply for 11 other jobs. It was only when her performance was deemed to be below par that managers at the Trust looked closer at her background and she was ultimately convicted using the Fraud Act 2006, making her the first woman to go to jail for CV falsification.

    http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/no-need-to-lie-on-your-cv-steve-szita


  • #49
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    Brevity is key. No need for hobbies either unless you're e.g. a coach, volunteer etc.
    And I wouldn't put third level results on it unless it was required. Degree/diploma/whatever should suffice.


  • #50
    Abi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,058 ✭✭✭✭Abi


    stovelid wrote: »
    Nobody should even mention school results on a CV unless you've just left.

    Two pages is all I ever use: third-level and professional qualifications, summary of employment and me skillz.

    Sorted.

    Same. When I did my course in management this subject came up, and it circled badly presented CV's. The rule of thumb is, don't go over 2 pages unless you can't avoid it. Employers don't want to be looking through pages and pages of shyte, just get the important stuff in. Your CV shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all effort either, it needs to be designed and certain training / work experience needs special emphasis or further information added, depending on the type of work you're applying for.


  • #51
    Abi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,058 ✭✭✭✭Abi


    Dudess wrote: »
    Brevity is key. No need for hobbies either unless you're e.g. a coach, volunteer etc.
    And I wouldn't put third level results on it unless it was required. Degree/diploma/whatever should suffice.

    Exactly. The only time you should mention interests or hobbies is when you've just left school, as a CV filler. Nobody actually gives a shyte whether you like knitting, long walks, or all that other bollix.

    Stick to whats valuable to the job you're applying for.


  • Advertisement
  • #52
    Mike 1972
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,018 ✭✭✭Mike 1972


    When I was in School we were fed a load of shyte from the teachers and guidance counsellers about the "importance" of putting all manner of trivia (Exams since the year dot....Extra curricular activities....Competitions won while in school -even primary etc etc) into our CV's in order to gain an edge over the hundreds of candidates applying for the same jobs.

    On going out into the real world it quiclkly become (even more) apparent that these teachers had been talking through their vaginas (and that was just the male ones) and that the crap that they had been feeding us was mainly for the purpose of generating a ludicrously inflated impression of their own importance (as teachers are wont to do in all manner of ways) and that in point of fact that employers are generally busy people who dont have time to be reading through a dozen pages of absolute horseshyte (especially if/when theres hundreds of other applications sitting on their "in" tray) and certainely dont give a flying fiddlers about that bronze medal one got in the ballygobackwards creative writing competition back in 1982 (and probably didnt even when it was 1983).

    Two pages max is the golden rule when it comes to CV (and dont bother with those fancy presentation folders or the CV will land in the bin rather than the filing cabinet) by all means have a "long version" saved (and backed up) on your computer which be edited/tailored to the requirements of individual jobs but in the highly unlikely event that an employer really needs to know what you got in group cert/11+ English theyll ask at the interview stage.
    Batsy wrote: »
    In March 2010, Rhiannon Mackay was jailed for six months for lying on her CV.

    To get the job of capital projects administrator with Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, she falsely claimed to have two A levels and also forged a letter of recommendation.

    I would strongly suspect this news story is misleadingly worded and the actual offence for which she was convicted of was related more to the forgery of the letter than the CV itself.

    As for lying about the A levels Surely the employer would have been expected to exercise due dilligance by actually asking to see her original certificates.Indeed given the nature of their undertaking (a hospital/NHS trust) it would be pretty negligent for them not to do so.
    Abi wrote: »
    Exactly. The only time you should mention interests or hobbies is when you've just left school, as a CV filler. Nobody actually gives a shyte whether you like knitting, long walks, or all that other bollix..
    In general yes howwever if you have interests/hobbies which might be somewhat relevent to the job youre applying for it might be worth mentioning (If it doesnt take you over the two page rule or lead to something more important getting left out) just remember to be able to answer any questions about your hobby if asked at interview (your boss might have similar interests) without sounding like youre bluffing.


Advertisement