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Lying on CV

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    #92
    skooterblue2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,816 ✭✭✭skooterblue2


    Ipso wrote: »
    They see it as something tbat might prevebt them get money, potential employers may see it as having something to hide.

    The problem is because you tried to hide it, once the employer twigs something isnt Kosher, they immediately have poetic lisence to guess why. The human mind always goes to the lowest common denominator. Gambling problem, problems with the law, drinking problem, undiagnosed mental illness, issues with authority, dismissed for some other reason. Now nothing has to be proven or even said, there are "N" other candidates looking for the job.


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    #93
    Edgware
    Registered Users Posts: 5,875 ✭✭✭Edgware


    Just put it up to him like this "you ask a lot of questions Mister, are you looking for trouble?
    That will soften his cough


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    #94
    puppieperson1
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 301 ✭✭puppieperson1


    there are loads of admiral thing you could have been doing.....

    Living at home with parent who was in poor health
    Doing a creative writing on line course and several others to pass the time list out a few
    Flower arranging, first aid. knitting and crochet,
    Selling the items you produced at the local flea market to make ends meet
    Also singing in a choir and
    fund raising for the local charity.
    walking dogs at the local rescue centre
    gardening with the team for the tidy towns committee
    visiting the local care home and reading to the residents & doing odd jobs for them


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    #95
    Vincent Vega
    Registered Users Posts: 1,735 ✭✭✭Vincent Vega


    Paddy Cow wrote: »
    ...I think because "looking after someone who was ill" is such a cliche answer at this stage, they would ask open ended questions and see how the person reacts. "Who was sick and what did they have?" is not ok. "What did you learn about yourself during this time?" etc is fine and gives the interviewee who is lying a rope to hang themselves with.

    Not sure that I understand here, so any chance you could explain what makes this an effective question to trip the interviewee up on?

    Surely the correct answer here would be something along the lines of patience, empathy, the need to be organised, a commitment to the task at hand, which was at times difficult, but knowing it needed to be seen through and approached with the right positive attitude.

    Doesn't seem too tricky to wriggle out of, more a reiteration of the what are your strengths sort of question. Or am I missing something?


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    #96
    skooterblue2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,816 ✭✭✭skooterblue2


    I dont think there is anything bad about being unemployed/on disability/Tús scheme etc etc as long as you did it productively. Just before the last recession hit my relative took redundancy from a very large IT based MNC, sold hid Dublin 4 house at the peak and everyone told him he was mad. So he played golf for 3 months getting up at 5 am during the summer. Went back did his MBA and is now back working for the Banks after 2 years, has a bigger salary and has a bigger house in D4. Its not about what happens to you , its about what you did with your time.

    Nothing wrong with being unemployed as long as you filled your time productively:
    puppieperson1 wrote: »
    Flower arranging, first aid. knitting and crochet,
    Selling the items you produced at the local flea market to make ends meet
    Also singing in a choir and
    fund raising for the local charity.
    walking dogs at the local rescue centre
    gardening with the team for the tidy towns committee
    visiting the local care home and reading to the residents & doing odd jobs for them

    Did you take unemployment lying down, or did you get up and look for something to occupy yourself. So you werent really unemployed just financially incapacitated. Big difference between the two.


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    #97
    DEFTLEFTHAND
    Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    Loads of people have gaps in their CVs from that time period.

    Just be honest with them.


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    #98
    Agent Smith
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 21,502 Mod ✭✭✭✭Agent Smith


    Say you spent the last 3 years helping people overcoming adversity....

    Say you did it in Bray.


    That was the Adversity


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    #99
    Outlaw Pete
    Registered Users Posts: 10,423 ✭✭✭✭Outlaw Pete


    Just did it once.


    cv2.jpg


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    #100
    2011
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,537 Mod ✭✭✭✭2011


    DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »
    Loads of people have gaps in their CVs from that time period.

    I wouldn't have thought so, certainly not the CVs I have seen. I would see that some graduates have taken a "gap year" to travel and been engaged in "casual work" during this time. I would have no issue with that.
    Just be honest with them.

    I think that the OP's concern is that telling the truth will result in a CV that suggests that he/she is unmotivated. To me it sounds like the 3 years were spent doing very little / nothing, which is exactly why he/she started this thread.


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    #101
    KERSPLAT!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 31,152 ✭✭✭✭KERSPLAT!


    As was already said, it's for a course, not a job so criticism of the CV will be much less, IMO.

    In general though, I have exaggerated a little on my CV or maybe squeezed the dates slightly.

    I was unemployed for about 12 months. Spent the first few months looking for work in the same line with no joy, then moved and looked for the same work, still no joy so I went back to college and worked part time before getting back to work full time following my college course. I don't think those 12 months would be an issue to an employer. 3 years, of what seems like nothing according to the OPs posts, might not be looked on too well though


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    #102
    Little Less Conversation
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 189 ✭✭Little Less Conversation


    Just to clear up a few things, the gap was a few years ago. I have been working since then. But went back to college and currently doing a course where they also help you with CV and interview preparation and very likely that I will get work out of this course so I want to do things right. Not sure how I can have such a huge gap, I'm embarrassed by it really but that was the times.


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    #103
    puppieperson1
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 301 ✭✭puppieperson1


    went for a managers job in a charity recently they wanted to know in advance everything i did since my leaving cert every single detail and details of all i did uring gaps on my CV it was ridiculous....


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    #104
    Paddy Cow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭Paddy Cow


    Vincent Vega wrote: »
    Not sure that I understand here, so any chance you could explain what makes this an effective question to trip the interviewee up on?

    Surely the correct answer here would be something along the lines of patience, empathy, the need to be organised, a commitment to the task at hand, which was at times difficult, but knowing it needed to be seen through and approached with the right positive attitude.

    Doesn't seem too tricky to wriggle out of, more a reiteration of the what are your strengths sort of question. Or am I missing something?
    Yes. No one ever, who has been a carer would describe it as "the task at hand". You are describing it in business terms and would be seen through in an instant. "Approached with the right attitude"??????? I take it you have never cared for a sick person because that is not how you do it.

    When you take care of someone who is sick, it becomes about them. It's not about how you would approach it. It's all about their needs and how you adjust to provide that. It's not about you having the right positive attitude. It's about you being a support to the sick person, no matter their attitude. They are the one who is sick. They are the one who may or may not recover from their long term illness. That in turn has an effect on you but mostly caring for someone is about them and their needs.

    If a candidate was asked about their time as a carer and they started talking about it in business terms like you did above, then you can bet that the interviewer will think they are lying, which reflects doubly badly on them - one - they lied, two - they made up a sick relative which is a double black mark.

    If a candidate was asked about their time as a carer and they were able to give a general account about how difficult it was, how they coped, what they learned etc, even without giving specific personal information, anyone would be able to spot the difference between a genuine carer vs a spoofer.


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    #105
    B.A._Baracus
    Registered Users Posts: 11,179 ✭✭✭✭B.A._Baracus


    I found a decent way to explain a gap (especially if that gap was during the recession) is saying you lost your job due to recession but went into education. Say that during it it wasn't what you wanted but you insisted on sticking it out then you just got some other job.

    You can also say how you lost your job then worked in something that doesn't exist anymore. Something known.


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    #106
    Little Less Conversation
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 189 ✭✭Little Less Conversation


    B.A._Baracus wrote: »
    I found a decent way to explain a gap (especially if that gap was during the recession) is saying you lost your job due to recession but went into education. Say that during it it wasn't what you wanted but you insisted on sticking it out then you just got some other job.

    You can also say how you lost your job then worked in something that doesn't exist anymore. Something known.

    That sounds good. What if I didn't lose my job during the recession, I just left to go back to college. Finished the course. Gap of three years. Work for three years. Then another course now. My CV is a mess but it's something I have to face.


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    #107
    Vincent Vega
    Registered Users Posts: 1,735 ✭✭✭Vincent Vega


    Paddy Cow wrote: »
    Yes. No one ever, who has been a carer would describe it as "the task at hand". You are describing it in business terms and would be seen through in an instant. "Approached with the right attitude"??????? I take it you have never cared for a sick person because that is not how you do it.

    When you take care of someone who is sick, it becomes about them. It's not about how you would approach it. It's all about their needs and how you adjust to provide that. It's not about you having the right positive attitude. It's about you being a support to the sick person, no matter their attitude. They are the one who is sick. They are the one who may or may not recover from their long term illness. That in turn has an effect on you but mostly caring for someone is about them and their needs.

    If a candidate was asked about their time as a carer and they started talking about it in business terms like you did above, then you can bet that the interviewer will think they are lying, which reflects doubly badly on them - one - they lied, two - they made up a sick relative which is a double black mark.

    If a candidate was asked about their time as a carer and they were able to give a general account about how difficult it was, how they coped, what they learned etc, even without giving specific personal information, anyone would be able to spot the difference between a genuine carer vs a spoofer.

    See, I wouldn't have thought I'd have been expected to demonstrate the sensibilities of a professional carer seeing as the question put was 'What did you learn about yourself?', and nothing more specific.

    Assuming I wasn't going for a job in that field, I would have taken the question as an attempt to gauge whether there had been any meaningful or worthwhile learning on my part that could translate to something in the workplace. Some positives they could look at and take away from the time unemployed, not necessarily placing focus on the emotional level with which it had been attended to.

    That's not to say I couldn't or wouldn't have approached it and phrased it in the manner you highlighted if I felt the sharing of the information was relevant to the position.

    I get your point though, in relation to claiming to having taken care of a sick relative such a response might come across a bit cynical and aloof.

    It's just that in an interview situation, the general nerves that can come with that, my mind would tend to be focused on the purpose of the interview itself. I'd feel more inclined to present the information in such a way that I felt placed emphasis on qualities relevant to the job, which could possibly come at the expense of any extraneous details.

    That said, I would obviously fine tune my response a bit more, and elaborate more on the barebones response I gave in the other post. Was only trying to get the gist across.

    Also, I think you're taking my 'approached with the right attitude' the wrong way. It was referring to something similar to positive bedside manner. Not attending to the person in a cold and mechanical or negatively charged way. ie: basically not going about it in a way that would add to the persons woes.


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    #108
    PapaOscar
    Registered Users Posts: 95 ✭✭PapaOscar


    frosty123 wrote: »
    can a employer do that? without your prior knowledge??

    Sorry i should of been clearer, they will ask you to get a letter from the SW. They wouldnt be able to get that info themselves.


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    #109
    mackeire
    Registered Users Posts: 2,280 ✭✭✭mackeire


    To fill a gap on your cv you could say that you won a hundred grand in the bookies or on the lottery and say that you took 3 years off to enjoy yourself.


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    #110
    PLL
    Registered Users Posts: 893 ✭✭✭PLL


    Read a great quote about this:

    “If you’re going to lie on your CV you better make sure you have gone to psychopath level of detail with your cover story”


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    #111
    PLL
    Registered Users Posts: 893 ✭✭✭PLL


    mackeire wrote: »
    To fill a gap on your cv you could say that you won a hundred grand in the bookies or on the lottery and say that you took 3 years off to enjoy yourself.

    Blew it all on coke and hookers, back now trying to slum it with the rest of ye.


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    #112
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    riffmongous wrote: »
    It's long enough ago though that you can just make one up

    I got an upgrade on my bill contract since then and no longer have their number as it was not necessary for me to. Simple as really.


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    #113
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    mackeire wrote: »
    To fill a gap on your cv you could say that you won a hundred grand in the bookies or on the lottery and say that you took 3 years off to enjoy yourself.

    yeah, thats really believable alright


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    #114
    Shergar6
    Registered Users Posts: 219 ✭✭Shergar6


    Paddy Cow wrote: »
    This is too ambiguous for us to properly advise you. If it was a gap from 2008 - 2011 and you've been working since, it's no big deal. If it's from 2015 - 2018 then that's a problem as the recession was over then. As long as you have some decent references you should be grand.

    Don't lie and say you were looking after a sick relative or travelling. They are the two biggest excuses. All the interviewer has to ask is an opened question such as "what did you learn about yourself during this time?" and you'll be sitting there with an open mouth.

    This actually sucks because I was looking after a relative for 6 years. People using it as an excuse to explain doing nothing on their CV makes us all look sketchy. I obviously can answer any probing questions if asked but I still feel they think I'm bull****ting

    Just be honest and say it took you a while to find your feet and now that you are out doing a course or working you are motivated and ready to get your career going.


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    #115
    Paddy Cow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭Paddy Cow


    Shergar6 wrote: »
    This actually sucks because I was looking after a relative for 6 years. People using it as an excuse to explain doing nothing on their CV makes us all look sketchy. I obviously can answer any probing questions if asked but I still feel they think I'm bull****ting

    Just be honest and say it took you a while to find your feet and now that you are out doing a course or working you are motivated and ready to get your career going.
    No they won't. You can tell the difference a mile away between someone who has genuinely been a carer and someone who has a rehearsed answer.


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    #116
    coffee_cake
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,309 CMod ✭✭✭✭coffee_cake


    Little Less Conversation wrote: »
    Just to clear up a few things, the gap was a few years ago. I have been working since then. But went back to college and currently doing a course where they also help you with CV and interview preparation and very likely that I will get work out of this course so I want to do things right. Not sure how I can have such a huge gap, I'm embarrassed by it really but that was the times.

    If they are going to help you with it then leave it blank and let them advise what to do


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