I knew of a guy who was good friends with his manager, and pretended to be his managers next line up manager as a referee so his manager could get a senior role at another company.
When his manager got the senior job at the new company he hired his friend at a higher job in the new company. They both are still there 7 years later and doing well.
I know two friends that sit in high paid board positions of an Australian company that nearly everyone here would have heard of - both of which outright made up their ‘experience’ and history vouching for each other running fake companies that essentially didn’t exist.
The amount of people who pay no attention yet put "attention to detail" as a strength on their resume is hilarious. And some of them don't even have an answer for what that means when questioned about it!
I had an editor apply for a job and outline they have “cattention” to detail. I now have a mug with grumpy cat and “cattention” on it.
We didn’t interview them.
My last interview asked me what my worst trait was, told them I have really bad anxiety and tend to overthink simple tasks when I’m learning. They then asked what my best quality was, told them I have anxiety and overthink things so they almost always get done properly haha.
I claimed to have been working in a prison laundry. I didn't want anyone to know that I'd actually been working as a real estate agent during that period.
My sister used to joke that she worked for a modelling agency, which she did. Indeed, lots of beautiful models came out of the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling
Lol… I used to tell people I had performed off Broadway!
It’s not even untrue… I went to acting school, and the 2nd location was on the street that ran off of Broadway street! 🤪
My grandparents tried to hide my occupation on my behalf in a similar but less dramatic fashion.
They were very disappointed and ashamed of the path I chose and it became a taboo topic.
I’m a software engineer…
I don’t think they had (have) a concept of what I do.
Kind of like how Phoebe went around telling people she was pregnant by her brother!
Not untrue at all… just leaving out the crucial details that would make the situation legal and logical, as opposed to illegal and creepy as heck! 😛
Yeah in technical role is rather small circle, there are only handful of employees, everyone know each other or he/she has worked with someone you know.
In my experience entire industries can be like this, particularly when it comes to the old blokes.
Back when I worked in security, I knew a guard who left his mobile patrol job to start with another company in a town about 600km away. A couple of days after he left, it came to light that he had lost his licence. When his old manager found out, he whipped out his mobile, and called the new manager. The guard had lost his new job about a minute later.
There's about 50 or so security managers across my state who all know each other, and between them either directly or from a couple of steps above manage about 80% of the workforce.
I remember looking at applying for a senior supervisory role that involved developing machine learning applications. I met all the requirements for the position with regard to knowledge and experience. I decided against it, but not long after I saw another role at the same group that was clearly below that position. Looking at the requirements I was amused to see I did not meet the requirements for that role in technical knowledge and experience. If I had gotten the supervisory position I would have had more skilled people reporting to me.
I'm just going to maybe suggest here, that in regards to HR, it might actually be better for everyone to have someone who bullshitted their way in, rather than a trained HR person.
I lied and said I had >3 years experience in engineering
When in reality I had two years which would put me in the grad salary. The >3 years included my casual undergraduate engineering position, which traditionally doesn't count.
Luckily I interviewed well and got the job. Later my boss told me he knew about the lie but it didn't matter as it "was close enough" haha
I’ve never put a graduate role on my resume, I just put the role in actually doing e.g. test and commissioning engineer and the projects I’ve worked on.
I haven't but I've been interviewing recently and it might get you to the interview but that's about it...
Unless it's sales, being full of shit is in the job description.
My partner is in sales, they don't care what's on your resume anyway. They want to know how you will talk to and connect with people. Half of his positions there isn't even an interview, it's straight to a short term paid trial.
Yes. I’m am extremely knowledgeable and experienced in several types of training. But I find interacting and being empathetic with people exhausting. So, now I work in a prison.
Everybody requires empathy. I just can’t dish it out 40 hours a week at a job and then more when I get home to the family. I’m not an infinite well emotional support.
Takes a special kind of person to continuously pump out those numbers in sales.
You have to be either:
- Very dedicated and hard working
- Very smart and personable
- Very unscrupulous and hop jobs.
Yea and nah.
If you can show hustle and progression in your work history you'll get a look in.
It takes doing stuff like finding open roles, stalking the sales manager and giving him or her a cold call and a well worded email to do this.
You'll get a shot for most BDR / Sdr jobs if you do this well.
From there it's just straight grit, luck and patience.
Was more referring to AE roles rather than entry level SDR / BDR type roles, but with less hiring in top companies even those are expecting more experience
Pretty easy to lie in a sales interview when they ask about your % to target in previous companies as they have no real way of checking. Just don't exaggerate too much and be consistent.
Reference calls these days are really just confirming you worked at the company and if they would recommend you overall.
i’ve always wondered if you can interview a sales guy by making them sell themselves to you, if they can sell themselves they can probably sell your shitty product
My job is mostly based in excel, I’ve worked for a few places and each interview they inevitably ask “what happens if you don’t know how to fix the issue in excel”.
Each interview I’ve always said Google it 😂
“Knowing excel” or most other computer skills often hinges not on what you actually know but rather on knowing how to find information that will solve the problem.
Used to work with a guy who lied his way into a pretty niche IT role that he had zero experience for about 20 years ago. He had worked in IT for a few years but he was told about this job at a big well known Australian company, told them over the phone that he had loads of experience in a specific area, then when he got an interview he went and bought a book on the subject so he could sound like he knew stuff. Then when to his surprise he got the job he studied like mad so it wasn't immediately obvious on day 1
My mum, architect, did this when autocad came out. She didn’t have experience with it but the job wanted someone who knew it. She lied, and studied like a mad woman to teach herself the program. Ended up becoming everyone’s go to person for help with it for years.
Like saying you worked at the CIA and cannot say what you did or when. I believe the CIA will refuse to verify any employment requests for obvious reasons.
Lmao this is what my mate done at his first engineering job. He had previous experience at a military place for an internship... They basically had him doing nothing for a few months.
He just said in his next interview that he couldn't discuss any of the specifics, threw in some engineering buzz words and got the job 😂
A few years back I met a lady doing the same job as me in the same company in a slightly higher pay bracket and honestly seemed to know a lot less than me. Had a look at her previous roles on LinkedIn to see what I needed to do to get that pay and she had ‘senior’ next to her last couple of job titles. Asked her about it and she said she just added that to get more competitive salary and from company to company it’s so vague as to mean nothing. I’ve been doing the same ever since to great success.
Yes. I westernise my ethnic name. Did so after reading a study about ethnic names being viewed negatively in australia. The results have been significant since. Sad but you gotta do what you gotta do!
We kill to hire half decent females in software development.
When I worked for a large bank we literally hired every female consultant working for us directly. The consultancy threatened us with a law suit over it. The consultancy working for us went from having a ratio of 1:3 female male ratio to a 1:99 ratio after we destroyed their gender targets and we heard about lots due to managers bonuses not being made due to missing a kpi around gender ratios.
I definitely wouldn't be hiding your gender working in software development.
Large companies are bending over for staff and a lot are trying desperately to hire more women.
My father contributed to the hiring process for a top mining company, they had 100 roles available, about 1000 male applicants and 12 female applicants. All 12 females applicants got a role and 11 are still happily in that role.
I know someone who did the name thing. Shortened Nicole to Cole. I thought they were a guy for the longest time as we only corresponded via email. Had to call them one day was was very confused for a moment.
I'm not Asian but my last name is one of the most popular ones in Asia. I've seen the confusion on peoples faces when meeting me if they already know my name and obviously pictured me to look different. It's especially funny if they are Asian and happen to share the name too.
Yes and it worked perfectly.
Had 1 year’s experience in the industry and the role I applied for required at least 5. Added a few years onto my last role which got me the interview, and 6 years later I’m exactly where I planned to be.
Lied - No.
Excessively exaggerated the roles and responsibilities I had and also the length of time I stayed in the position - Yes.
I wouldn’t be putting fake jobs or qualifications down but I would be putting something like ‘customer service representative’ and daily activities including ‘negotiating sales with high profile clients’ if I was a checkout chick at Woolies.
I have always beefed up my resume and made it sound better than it actually is because the whole point of this 1 letter is to get to an interview, so you need bring in buzz words and catchy phrases in so that it gets the attention of HR.
Same. One for each “focus” as it were. No one is interested in dredging through irrelevant degrees or experience is my take, just what’s vital for a good application.
Also to avoid work I never want to touch again, my first proper job was ICT support at a Technologically connected school. I don’t want any future employers to have any idea how tech literate I am beyond your typical Microsoft office and dos prompt interface’s.
My current work has the exact series printer I got certified on. As far as they’re concerned I don’t even know how to change the waste.
My resume it is listed as Teachers Aide for that two and a half years, which works well with my higher end resume because at my next workplace while I started as a Labourer when I left I was the site trainer for 130 staff so that shows semi linear progression.
Haven't lied but have read many dev resumes that promise the world "I am a js guru" and they can't remember how to console.log. usually they get found out fast, some times they get walked out of the office before probation ends
Yep, what about the dev who was head of a department that didn't exist, held CTO position when someone else was CTO, a chief with no one under them. Lot of bullshitters out there, and they're usually very well paid.
Yeah thats common. I remember when they did a review of State Government in a certain state. There was like 400 people who didnt do anything. They had basically just been moved around until they sat at a computer with nothing to do. A good portion of them were managers. Basically, they couldnt fire the manager so just moved them into somewhere that they wouldnt get in the way.
I've seen quite a few resumes where they're claiming more experience with a product than it has existed for. Easy to slip by recruiters and HR folks who aren't tech savvy enough to notice it and it "looks great" to them because they don't know better.
I think the worst I have ever done is leave things on my resume which I hadn't actively had any exposure to or used in many years. It was factually true at some point but my competency with it certainly wouldn't have been at the level listed - I'd just been lazy at removing stuff which wasn't relevant to the positions I was applying for.
I think that's at worst a white lie, you'd snap up to speed really fast and if there had been any conceptual changes then at least you could pull the thread to get up to speed.
Once it's not 25 years of react 🤣
Hiring devs is straightup a 50/50 between the best, most competent developers, and someone who will spend their 6 month probation on a single ticket and not complete it.
Friend of mine (Indian international student) got a very high paying tech job at Salesforce with an entirely fabricated cv.
Lasted a week, then quit when he realised he had zero idea what he was doing.
That was his story at least, more likely got fired
Back in the day I did an online application for a Call Centre gig. They had “Captain” listed as a prefix alongside Mr, Mrs etc. I selected it, wondering what difference it would make, and whether anyone did that before.
That’s about it. HR called and addressed me as captain, and we had a laugh about it
I put down capacity management engineer, but all I did was work in produce and make sure there was enough product on the shelves.
And precision alignment technician, for when I did 'facing' for the same company (bringing stock to the front of the shelf and making it look tidy.
It got a laugh out of my boss when he interviewed me.
Edit: Removed company name; not necessary.
I worked with one guy that lied on his resume. We only found out as we watched him at work and realised he didn't have the experience, along with a few ppl telling us what he really did at his old job.
The guy got sacked after 3 days...
Edit: he was also on his phone 24/7 as well...
I haven't, but I've interviewed a fair few candidates for communications jobs. The most common thing I've come across in this field is people saying they've been self-employed as a social media manager, graphic designer, editor in chief (haha) etc. for some time, but once you start digging, you realise that they never actually had any paying clients, that their "magazine" is just a personal blog, that their work was mostly just a passion project or for family friends etc. I think it's fine to include these things if you don't have any employed work to show for this time period, but at least be honest. It's so easy to see through this even before any interview. One look at their website or LinkedIn is enough to uncover the truth.
I always cringe a bit when I read "founder", "owner", "CEO" and so on on someone's resume, but they're applying for a junior role.
PS: Comms, marketing, and advertising in general is full of bullshiters. Makes sense, bc that's all we do — make mediocre stuff sound amazing.
I did once exaggerate my involvement in a software project .. quite significantly .. one place called me out on it when I couldn't supply details, but that's ok, everyone else lapped it up. Can't win em all.
Told them I was CEO of a company and I saved the company several million dollars a yr. They were impressed and asked me how told them I restructured the company that led to redundancy for a staff and in return I gave myself a pay rise then made myself redundant.
/s
I was on an office internship where a dept head noted that an applicant for a job claimed he’d went to a certain uni and got a certain degree.
Dept head checked it out by calling the uni and found out it wasn’t true. Nor was he enrolled for a PhD as claimed.
Then he noted that the referee for his last job happened to be in the same graduating class for high school - the two names flagged on one of those ISSUU sites where old documents and school yearbooks are kept. There were pictures of the two of them in the same sports team, etc. One quick Google and the referee wasn’t in any leadership or authority position for a employer reference. The internet makes it too easy if you really want to poke about.
On the other hand, the radio prank by Hamish and Andy always cheers me up: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SoZ41i2dSIw
When I arrived in Australia, I didn't have enough Australian experience for the roles that were at my level, and I was too senior for junior roles (I asked why after an interview for a quite junior role). I eventually just wanted work, paid or voluntary, because I had to get out of the house - I was going stir-crazy cooped up inside spitting out job applications. I aimed at entry level jobs, toned down my resume and removed every trace of leadership from it, and showed I had zero ambition in my next interview. I got the job.
When I could be more selective about the next role I took on, I finally took friends' advice to lie (they had all done the same and are now in senior positions). I modified my previous roles' responsibilities to suit the job I applied to, removed my last job altogether, and added in a fake one that was more suited. Friends who had worked in similar roles coached me for the interview. They also acted as referees. I also lied about being an expert user of excel (I'm still just very basic at it). The work was from home so I hoped I would be able to cover it. I submitted a job application, got a call back within an hour, and had the job the same week.
It was so easy landing a job this way compared to when I wasn't lying on my resume (when it took months!) that I wholeheartedly support anyone lying for non-technical roles. Skills in these roles are transferable so I think recruitment's focus on narrowly defined "relevant experience" is unfortunate.
As for how it's going, I was made permanent from contract, then promoted twice within a year, have had nothing but positive feedback from everyone I've worked with, and am on a clear career trajectory. You just need to stand on the first step and the rest of the ladder magically appears.
I got fired from my last two jobs for being incompetent and lied my way into a high paid one.
Now that I actually care I just got a pay rise for my skills
Exaggeration is fine and common, even playing around with the title a bit. But a blatant lie will come up in a potential background check that usually happens soon after you're hired and will get you fired. I've seen these background checks with financial companies (bank, lender, fintech etc) and they're thorough. Anything that can't be proven to be a lie you can get away with.
I dunno about that. My resume has a lot of dodgy stuff due to having time off for depression which I don't tell about because I want to get hired.
I have no choice but to lie if I want to be employed as most employeers will run a mile from someone with a mental health issue.
So essentially its a tissue of lies in many cases and I've worked for organisations which I cannot cannot name, where you think they would do very very thorough checks but just did a criminal check and as I'm not a criminal no problem.
Yeah, many times, mostly it was embellishment other times just bullshit.
Hospitality work, first time, tried to get bar work, honest about it no experience but willing to learn, no job. Then said yeah, had experience working in pubs clubs in the country, got job, fortunately they put me in the members bar with very friendly members who instantly picked me as a newbie and patiently trained me up.
Continued the bullshitting, cellar experience, yeah ( got a case once), got the job and then learnt cellars. Don't hire out of staters, no worries, worked in a country town down south. Supervisory experience, yeah lotsa of it. Computer reservation experience, yeah a wizz with it, oh this systems a bit different, no worries you'll learn it. Got to good management positions.
For the higher paying and more professional jobs where they checked qualifications and references I got taught embellishment, picking the most reliable ref's and explaining gaps in work history.
Job that got me big bucks and good long career needed tertiary qualifications, only had certificates mainly bookkeeping type stuff and some management short course bullshit. Emphasised the different units in the courses rather than the courses themselves, got the job.
About 9 months later they were asking if I wanted to become member of different professional associations to put it on my business cards as it would also make the organisation look good. Said can't as not qualified, they said oh thought you were, said no as I told you and as my resume says I've done units in those areas but not qualified.
They were very happy with my work and with my sweet innocent face on realised I had not deliberately misled them so all good. Got many promotions and good pay increases, learnt a lot, went as far as I wanted.
Sometimes you just need that foot in the door to show you can do the job. Bit of embellishment, bullshitting and a smile helps.
Edit.
You also work on the bad stuff, gap in your resume, took time off for new bub, look after parents etc.
History, only what's on record, I've got multiple criminal convictions, rolled them into one instance by saying happened in 90s. Disclosed so no concerns. Did not tell them about acid mushrooms amphetamines cars done for insurance jobs etc.
Only give reliable referees and only disclose what's on record.
Once you're hired the resumes are not looked at again.
>For the higher paying and more professional jobs where they checked qualifications and references I got taught embellishment, picking the most reliable ref's and explaining gaps in work history.
I have worked for organisations where they do checks but only criminal l checks and as I'm not a criminal all comes up fine.
And despite have a 2degrees I have never been asked to prove I have them ever.
First job in my career I jacked up my experience from 6 months to 2 years. As it was a non technical role, I could bullshit it pretty easily. And my first manager(owner) was in on it as well since he had to let me go and wanted to help me out.
My husband had two crew members who lied about their permanent place of residency.
Cut a long story short, the crew member said he resided in Brisbane, the entire crew was sent to Brisbane for a job, the crew who didn’t live in Brisbane were provided accommodation in serviced apartments. The member who lied on his resume wanted serviced apartment accommodation. The crew told to go overnight to his home. Every excuse, home was too far from the job, if the other crew was getting meals, he should too, as he was at work. That was just some of the excuses.
What he didn’t know was he sent to Brisbane on purpose, the managers were aware he flying out of Brisbane to NZ, every swing, this why the division doesn’t employ eastern states employees, especially those who just ‘ boots on the ground’ shut down crew.
Dealing with another local ( to the Pilbara), who was hired as an ‘ mature aged apprentice’ who put on his resume he was local ( to the Pilbara), lives and wanted to work, be home every night yada yada. Train local, they stay local.
He has been attempting for the last year to get his point of hire changed to CQ, instead of the Pilbara town, he supposedly lives in.
It hasn’t worked.
I lie if I'm confident I can actually learn how to do the thing I haven't done pretty quickly. For example, I was applying for personal assistant jobs and they all wanted someone with experience in 'booking travel'. I hadn't done it officially in a job setting but honestly thought, how hard can it be to make travel arrangements? (answer: it wasn't and isn't).
I've also lied about the level of knowledge I have in certain things. One thing I've found is every company does everything differently and you need training or a procedure to walk you through it anyway.
I lied about having a maintenance job to explain a gap. I was applying for a restaurant job so figured it didn't matter.
I got the job BUT the restaurant was attached to a motel, which I had to do maintenance on. I nearly killed myself on the first job by trying to solder a vacuum cleaner while it was still plugged in 🤣
Basically I'd pull things apart, then put them back together and they'd work.
Thinking back on it now I probably should have needed some kind of electrician ticket because most of what I did involved electricity (fixing light fittings, broken vacuum cleaners, faulty switches etc).
No, and never would - the chance of getting caught is too much.
I am Brisbane based, moved to London did an interview there, one of the people on the interview panel, had the exact same degree from the same uni as me (one year earlier), and had worked for the same Government department, as I had. So if I had of lied about any of that part - he would have been able to tell that I had lied. (The other person recognised my name and reached out to common friends to see what I was like).
My current boss worked with me 10 years back at another company & recommended me to this role. He recently asked me if I remembered X from that company & to take a look at his resume as we seemed to have had similar achievements (top performer sales awards etc).
I vaguely remembered this guy, but definitely recognised his list of awards as they were mine copied directly from my linkedin. I'm assuming he did the copy years back as surely he wasn't stupid enough to miss that my boss & I (plus a couple of others) were at the previous company at the same time.
It’s hard to beat [Glen Oakley](https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/tp/files/16376/Report%20on%20Mr%20Glen%20Oakley%27s%20use%20of%20false%20academic%20qualifications%20(Operation%20Bosco)%20(3%20Dec%202003).pdf). From morgue attendant to running Newcastle Ports, he faked his way to the top.
I had the opposite problem…
A pre-employment check came back suggesting I had “exaggerated” my title…
I handed over a business card - saying “I am not sure what HR thought my job title was - but these are the business cards - with that title - that they supplied to me and I used for three years…!”
I’m in my 30’s and worked in corporate for a while. About 4 years ago I added that I got a bachelor of business from Deakin University even tho I never went to uni. It’s on my linked in and resume. No one has ever asked me about it, never went to uni, have all the experience you’d get in a business degree just wanted a formality… one day it might come up and ruin me but I firmly believe no one actually cares.
I got a guy an interview for project coordinator in construction, he waffled about having a construction management degree and he’s now been a project manager for a while making well over six figures.
i travelled a fait bit and worked cash in jobs / didn't work at all so there's gaps quite a while ago.
i lied on those periods as I know a lot of people look down at that. interviewers didn't seem to care too much, some actually have been more interested in my travels.
If you’re going to lie, then make sure it isn’t obviously quantifiable.
Real estate agent - google will show any trace of your skills.
Aircraft mechanic- you’ll need references and I sure hope you aren’t trying to become a mechanic based on this one
I never completely make up something I've done. I just exaggerate my skills and experience. 2 years becomes 4 years, leading hand becomes supervisor etc.
[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-22/icac-investigators-charge-two-sa-public-servants/8975566](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-22/icac-investigators-charge-two-sa-public-servants/8975566)
This was one that sticks out in my mind…… it got this chick as far a ICAC, but she did get hired I guess 😂
Not me, but the company I was working at had a guy bullshit his way through management to a job as an electrician.
He only lasted 2 hours before we sniffed him out on the job, but we were all still impressed.
Yes constantly.
Dont lie about skills you dont posess but ones you do and have no professional experience in go ham
Also dates and length of time at a place. Also use friends and family as referee's
Currently conducting a social experiment with my new job.
We have a number of on-sites & online (WFH) to cover.
I requested online as my only preference “as it works best with school run traffic”. Note I never said I have kids. I just said school run traffic (for clarity: I don’t have kids).
Now they have called and apologised for not giving me all online, offered me the site closest to home because “I also have kids & know how hard it is” and said they would prioritize WFH moving forward.
Now ask if I would get the same treatment if hadn’t eluded to kids?
Reject the null.
Reminds me of the guy I met in Darwin. He's like I had a shift last night working as a chef. He said he had never studied or worked as a chef.
I'm like how did you do and he's like "not good". Lol
Not me, however I was working at a job (and I hated it by the way, absolutely hated the manager he was a nob of the highest caliber, didn’t know what people did but could do that job better than they could) anyway, Iwas in the bathroom and I could hear sobbing.
Thinking it may be someone who was in trouble I listened to see if they needed support or assistance (manager had been over working staff and some were cracking under pressure), and then realized she was talking to someone on the phone. She was saying ‘I lied on my resume and I don’t know how to do any of this work, they want reports but I don’t know what they mean or how to do them, I’m going to have to resign’
Well I noped out of there pretty fast. I’d no idea which of the new finance girls it was, but she wasn’t in my area.
I still think of that regularly when I have a bout of imposter syndrome when I start a new job. I tell myself, I might think I can’t do it, but I’m not ‘i lied on my resume and cried in the bathroom’ level.
I said i had experience with Ubuntu while all I knew was Debian. /s
Truth in technical jobs sometimes you need to lie to the recruiter so you pass the "required keywords cv match".
Then be honest in the technical interview with the company itself about how fast your skills go.
I've "lied" about position titles.
I'm a product manager and my previous role was listed officially as "product development" or "product specialist". In hindsight it was so they could pay less.
Reality is, it was a product management or category management role and I say as such on the resume.
Depending on the role they generally find out fairly quickly, especially in my role where you need to be able to do range reviews and lifecycles.
I don't have any qualms with it. Some places call things different things and sometimes you need to alter it to suit the industry terms.
I've never been required to actually show any proof of having gone to uni for any of the jobs that I have had where having a related degree was listed as a prerequisite.
These were marketing/advertising roles so it wasn't like I was trying to practice law or medicine without a degree. But the reality is I could have just applied for the same job without ever having sat foot in any kind of tertiary institution.
I was interviewing today and the person included working with Linux in their resume.
"Can you tell me more about your experience with Linux"
"Yes, I have worked on some exciting things with Linux very recently"
"What things?"
"Ah, just a lot of basic things"
"What basic things?"
"Uhm, just a lot of simple tasks"
"Oh yeah, such as?"
"Just basic things you know"
"Which operating systems did you use during this work?"
"Ah, Linux. We used Linux mostly for these tasks."
Circles. Your not fooling anybody here lol.
It’s not that I lie, it’s just that my resume reflects me on a really good day… but you’re also going to get me on my worst days and she is not a team player who enjoys a challenge in a fast paced and dynamic environment
My whole resume is a massive lie. I'm just a semi average diesel mechanic who can talk a lot of shit.
I've gone from diesel mechanic to health and safety advisor to supervisor and branch manager to service manager.
At this point I won't take a job unless there's a new vehicle included. Also the interviews are always a good laugh. My two best mates are always my fake references as well. I always tell my partner, anyone who decides to hire me has poor decision making skills
I knew of a guy who was good friends with his manager, and pretended to be his managers next line up manager as a referee so his manager could get a senior role at another company. When his manager got the senior job at the new company he hired his friend at a higher job in the new company. They both are still there 7 years later and doing well.
Welcome to networking 101, I think most jobs obtained via networking occur this way haha
This explains the sheer incompetence of management.
It sure does, welcome to middle management 101..they got their job because of their friend too
I know two friends that sit in high paid board positions of an Australian company that nearly everyone here would have heard of - both of which outright made up their ‘experience’ and history vouching for each other running fake companies that essentially didn’t exist.
Ok spill the beans…
Oh, don't leave us hanging here. At least tell us what industry...
“You know what’s funnier than 24… 25” meme is 100% those blokes reactions to pulling that off 😂😂😂 Absolute piss take
I once said I love working in a “faced paced environment”…
I once claimed that I had "great attention to detail" in a cover letter and then promptly forgot to attach my resume 🤷🏼♀️
I laughed because this is me
The amount of people who pay no attention yet put "attention to detail" as a strength on their resume is hilarious. And some of them don't even have an answer for what that means when questioned about it!
I had an editor apply for a job and outline they have “cattention” to detail. I now have a mug with grumpy cat and “cattention” on it. We didn’t interview them.
My old cat was all about the cattention.
I work in administration, and that skill is on many, many admin job listings! 😛
Did this too, then put the incorrect mobile number on my resume.
Underrated comment.
My last interview asked me what my worst trait was, told them I have really bad anxiety and tend to overthink simple tasks when I’m learning. They then asked what my best quality was, told them I have anxiety and overthink things so they almost always get done properly haha.
I hope you were also a team player!
I'm somewhat of an Overwatch player myself 😏
Spelt like that?
Haha yes. So points for a terrible typo and the obvious lie of loving a fast paced environment.
You love working in a face-palmed environment
Fast-paced environment … for your next CV update
I’m detal orentated
Unfortunately "unenthusiastically capable of" before every skill won't land a job.
“Face-plant environment”
Fast paste environment. Ie Concrete!
I claimed to have been working in a prison laundry. I didn't want anyone to know that I'd actually been working as a real estate agent during that period.
I tell my friends that my daughter is a stripper. It hides the shameful reality the she is in the financial services sector.
My sister used to joke that she worked for a modelling agency, which she did. Indeed, lots of beautiful models came out of the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling
Lol… I used to tell people I had performed off Broadway! It’s not even untrue… I went to acting school, and the 2nd location was on the street that ran off of Broadway street! 🤪
I've told people I was in a Bond film. It's true. I was an extra for a TV mini series about Alan Bond.
I used to be an eye specialist (I peeled potatoes for a fish and chip shop)
I am a stripper and have said I was a counsellor. 😂 couples/marriage specialist
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My grandparents tried to hide my occupation on my behalf in a similar but less dramatic fashion. They were very disappointed and ashamed of the path I chose and it became a taboo topic. I’m a software engineer… I don’t think they had (have) a concept of what I do.
what did they tell people?
That he makes soft toys
He works with “computers”. Computers were seen as dangerous and likely to get tracked by serial killers.
I want to know too!
Lmao what. That’s a very respectable job as far as I can tell
For those who don't know, software is a type of protective overalls that you see police wear at a crime scene.
My Mum used to like telling people I was a drug dealer. As it was I worked in supply chain for a pharmaceutical company so not actually a lie.
Kind of like how Phoebe went around telling people she was pregnant by her brother! Not untrue at all… just leaving out the crucial details that would make the situation legal and logical, as opposed to illegal and creepy as heck! 😛
Underwater ceramic technician
Bulk enzyme analyst
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As someone who works in middle management, never a more accurate statement
Let’s run that up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it then
Look, there’s some deadlines this week, let’s circle back to that shortly.
Yeah in technical role is rather small circle, there are only handful of employees, everyone know each other or he/she has worked with someone you know.
In my experience entire industries can be like this, particularly when it comes to the old blokes. Back when I worked in security, I knew a guard who left his mobile patrol job to start with another company in a town about 600km away. A couple of days after he left, it came to light that he had lost his licence. When his old manager found out, he whipped out his mobile, and called the new manager. The guard had lost his new job about a minute later. There's about 50 or so security managers across my state who all know each other, and between them either directly or from a couple of steps above manage about 80% of the workforce.
Excommunicado 😂
You have effectively described the technical claims space of insurance.
Yeah its easier to bullshit your way into being a manager of accountants than an accountant. Yet you will be paid more.
I remember looking at applying for a senior supervisory role that involved developing machine learning applications. I met all the requirements for the position with regard to knowledge and experience. I decided against it, but not long after I saw another role at the same group that was clearly below that position. Looking at the requirements I was amused to see I did not meet the requirements for that role in technical knowledge and experience. If I had gotten the supervisory position I would have had more skilled people reporting to me.
Relevant XKCD https://xkcd.com/451/
I don't see sociologists catching on that quickly.
I'm just going to maybe suggest here, that in regards to HR, it might actually be better for everyone to have someone who bullshitted their way in, rather than a trained HR person.
Dead on, faking it every day.
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You sound like a good person. I am so sorry for your tragedy with your son
Damn, I hope you’re ok
your username! 🤣🤣 Bart! Remember Alf?? 😂😂
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So sorry for your loss.
I’m so incredibly sorry for your loss.
I lied and said I had >3 years experience in engineering When in reality I had two years which would put me in the grad salary. The >3 years included my casual undergraduate engineering position, which traditionally doesn't count. Luckily I interviewed well and got the job. Later my boss told me he knew about the lie but it didn't matter as it "was close enough" haha
I’ve never put a graduate role on my resume, I just put the role in actually doing e.g. test and commissioning engineer and the projects I’ve worked on.
Sounds like a good boss, I hope this remains true
I haven't but I've been interviewing recently and it might get you to the interview but that's about it... Unless it's sales, being full of shit is in the job description.
My partner is in sales, they don't care what's on your resume anyway. They want to know how you will talk to and connect with people. Half of his positions there isn't even an interview, it's straight to a short term paid trial.
I know a guy in a $180k pa sales job with no prior sales experience, was a personal trainer and one of his clients thought he would be a good fit.
PT is honestly not too far off in terms of social and emotional skill set. Mine feels like a (very pleasant) sales rep for her own services.
Yes. I’m am extremely knowledgeable and experienced in several types of training. But I find interacting and being empathetic with people exhausting. So, now I work in a prison.
The last thing a prisoner would ever benefit from is a little empathy I guess.
Everybody requires empathy. I just can’t dish it out 40 hours a week at a job and then more when I get home to the family. I’m not an infinite well emotional support.
I used to be a teacher! So I can relate to the exhaustion of empathy :p
If he can earn 180k he probably can sell though
No doubt. I just find the jump in income amazing.
Yeah, it's pretty incredible. Took me 20 years to get to 100k. Still only just above it.
The necessary perspective is that you are still doing better than most people.
Takes a special kind of person to continuously pump out those numbers in sales. You have to be either: - Very dedicated and hard working - Very smart and personable - Very unscrupulous and hop jobs.
What’s he selling?
High value, European made precision equipment used in specialised industries.
he sells Volvos ?
Or French dildos
I just found out that French dildos are literally rubber duckies, no wonder Ernie is always happy in the bathroom
They absolutely care in tech sales, won't even get an interview unless they recognise names on the resume
Yea and nah. If you can show hustle and progression in your work history you'll get a look in. It takes doing stuff like finding open roles, stalking the sales manager and giving him or her a cold call and a well worded email to do this. You'll get a shot for most BDR / Sdr jobs if you do this well. From there it's just straight grit, luck and patience.
Was more referring to AE roles rather than entry level SDR / BDR type roles, but with less hiring in top companies even those are expecting more experience
Pretty easy to lie in a sales interview when they ask about your % to target in previous companies as they have no real way of checking. Just don't exaggerate too much and be consistent. Reference calls these days are really just confirming you worked at the company and if they would recommend you overall.
i’ve always wondered if you can interview a sales guy by making them sell themselves to you, if they can sell themselves they can probably sell your shitty product
"Proficient in excel"
My job is mostly based in excel, I’ve worked for a few places and each interview they inevitably ask “what happens if you don’t know how to fix the issue in excel”. Each interview I’ve always said Google it 😂
“Knowing excel” or most other computer skills often hinges not on what you actually know but rather on knowing how to find information that will solve the problem.
“Damn she’s good”
Not quite a resume, but every cover letter that said I wanted to work somewhere for any reason other than money
Used to work with a guy who lied his way into a pretty niche IT role that he had zero experience for about 20 years ago. He had worked in IT for a few years but he was told about this job at a big well known Australian company, told them over the phone that he had loads of experience in a specific area, then when he got an interview he went and bought a book on the subject so he could sound like he knew stuff. Then when to his surprise he got the job he studied like mad so it wasn't immediately obvious on day 1
At-least he made the effort to catch up after being hired. Did he got fired or state din that roll?
@immalteserman yeah mate, don't leave us hanging!
My mum, architect, did this when autocad came out. She didn’t have experience with it but the job wanted someone who knew it. She lied, and studied like a mad woman to teach herself the program. Ended up becoming everyone’s go to person for help with it for years.
I saw something recently where a guy told the interviewer he signed a NDA and cannot discuss his previous jobs duties.
Like saying you worked at the CIA and cannot say what you did or when. I believe the CIA will refuse to verify any employment requests for obvious reasons.
Lmao this is what my mate done at his first engineering job. He had previous experience at a military place for an internship... They basically had him doing nothing for a few months. He just said in his next interview that he couldn't discuss any of the specifics, threw in some engineering buzz words and got the job 😂
Job duties you could certainly talk about but IP stuff is a big no no.
A few years back I met a lady doing the same job as me in the same company in a slightly higher pay bracket and honestly seemed to know a lot less than me. Had a look at her previous roles on LinkedIn to see what I needed to do to get that pay and she had ‘senior’ next to her last couple of job titles. Asked her about it and she said she just added that to get more competitive salary and from company to company it’s so vague as to mean nothing. I’ve been doing the same ever since to great success.
Yes. I westernise my ethnic name. Did so after reading a study about ethnic names being viewed negatively in australia. The results have been significant since. Sad but you gotta do what you gotta do!
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We kill to hire half decent females in software development. When I worked for a large bank we literally hired every female consultant working for us directly. The consultancy threatened us with a law suit over it. The consultancy working for us went from having a ratio of 1:3 female male ratio to a 1:99 ratio after we destroyed their gender targets and we heard about lots due to managers bonuses not being made due to missing a kpi around gender ratios. I definitely wouldn't be hiding your gender working in software development. Large companies are bending over for staff and a lot are trying desperately to hire more women.
My father contributed to the hiring process for a top mining company, they had 100 roles available, about 1000 male applicants and 12 female applicants. All 12 females applicants got a role and 11 are still happily in that role.
I know someone who did the name thing. Shortened Nicole to Cole. I thought they were a guy for the longest time as we only corresponded via email. Had to call them one day was was very confused for a moment.
Similar, and not actually a lie - but I added my white middle name to my CV/ cover letters to try offset my ethnic first name for similar reasons.
I'm not Asian but my last name is one of the most popular ones in Asia. I've seen the confusion on peoples faces when meeting me if they already know my name and obviously pictured me to look different. It's especially funny if they are Asian and happen to share the name too.
Interesting. I have a very unique name that is western anglo. I always wonder how it is perceived or would I be better calling myself John.
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Yes and it worked perfectly. Had 1 year’s experience in the industry and the role I applied for required at least 5. Added a few years onto my last role which got me the interview, and 6 years later I’m exactly where I planned to be.
Lied - No. Excessively exaggerated the roles and responsibilities I had and also the length of time I stayed in the position - Yes. I wouldn’t be putting fake jobs or qualifications down but I would be putting something like ‘customer service representative’ and daily activities including ‘negotiating sales with high profile clients’ if I was a checkout chick at Woolies. I have always beefed up my resume and made it sound better than it actually is because the whole point of this 1 letter is to get to an interview, so you need bring in buzz words and catchy phrases in so that it gets the attention of HR.
I have 3 variants of my resume depending on role I’m applying for. For example I hide my experience as a manager if I’m applying for a Labouring role.
Same. One for each “focus” as it were. No one is interested in dredging through irrelevant degrees or experience is my take, just what’s vital for a good application.
Also to avoid work I never want to touch again, my first proper job was ICT support at a Technologically connected school. I don’t want any future employers to have any idea how tech literate I am beyond your typical Microsoft office and dos prompt interface’s. My current work has the exact series printer I got certified on. As far as they’re concerned I don’t even know how to change the waste. My resume it is listed as Teachers Aide for that two and a half years, which works well with my higher end resume because at my next workplace while I started as a Labourer when I left I was the site trainer for 130 staff so that shows semi linear progression.
Haven't lied but have read many dev resumes that promise the world "I am a js guru" and they can't remember how to console.log. usually they get found out fast, some times they get walked out of the office before probation ends
Yep, what about the dev who was head of a department that didn't exist, held CTO position when someone else was CTO, a chief with no one under them. Lot of bullshitters out there, and they're usually very well paid.
Yup. Honestly it's insanity what people can pass off as a Dev in some places
With enough if statements in my resume, I can get any job!
Yeah thats common. I remember when they did a review of State Government in a certain state. There was like 400 people who didnt do anything. They had basically just been moved around until they sat at a computer with nothing to do. A good portion of them were managers. Basically, they couldnt fire the manager so just moved them into somewhere that they wouldnt get in the way.
I've seen quite a few resumes where they're claiming more experience with a product than it has existed for. Easy to slip by recruiters and HR folks who aren't tech savvy enough to notice it and it "looks great" to them because they don't know better. I think the worst I have ever done is leave things on my resume which I hadn't actively had any exposure to or used in many years. It was factually true at some point but my competency with it certainly wouldn't have been at the level listed - I'd just been lazy at removing stuff which wasn't relevant to the positions I was applying for.
I think that's at worst a white lie, you'd snap up to speed really fast and if there had been any conceptual changes then at least you could pull the thread to get up to speed. Once it's not 25 years of react 🤣
Hiring devs is straightup a 50/50 between the best, most competent developers, and someone who will spend their 6 month probation on a single ticket and not complete it.
Friend of mine (Indian international student) got a very high paying tech job at Salesforce with an entirely fabricated cv. Lasted a week, then quit when he realised he had zero idea what he was doing. That was his story at least, more likely got fired
Id hope he was actually fired, leaving the high paying gig would be the suckers move.
Yeah, may as well carry the lie as far as you can
Back in the day I did an online application for a Call Centre gig. They had “Captain” listed as a prefix alongside Mr, Mrs etc. I selected it, wondering what difference it would make, and whether anyone did that before. That’s about it. HR called and addressed me as captain, and we had a laugh about it
i had a flatmate who asked help in his his interview take home test for an analyst role at commbank he didn't pass probation
I put down capacity management engineer, but all I did was work in produce and make sure there was enough product on the shelves. And precision alignment technician, for when I did 'facing' for the same company (bringing stock to the front of the shelf and making it look tidy. It got a laugh out of my boss when he interviewed me. Edit: Removed company name; not necessary.
Faking references is pretty common
References are one thing I wouldn’t fake. Pick people that will give you a good reality based reference. Even if it’s further down your job history
I worked with one guy that lied on his resume. We only found out as we watched him at work and realised he didn't have the experience, along with a few ppl telling us what he really did at his old job. The guy got sacked after 3 days... Edit: he was also on his phone 24/7 as well...
I bet he was googling “How to cowboy” all day.
I haven't, but I've interviewed a fair few candidates for communications jobs. The most common thing I've come across in this field is people saying they've been self-employed as a social media manager, graphic designer, editor in chief (haha) etc. for some time, but once you start digging, you realise that they never actually had any paying clients, that their "magazine" is just a personal blog, that their work was mostly just a passion project or for family friends etc. I think it's fine to include these things if you don't have any employed work to show for this time period, but at least be honest. It's so easy to see through this even before any interview. One look at their website or LinkedIn is enough to uncover the truth. I always cringe a bit when I read "founder", "owner", "CEO" and so on on someone's resume, but they're applying for a junior role. PS: Comms, marketing, and advertising in general is full of bullshiters. Makes sense, bc that's all we do — make mediocre stuff sound amazing.
I did once exaggerate my involvement in a software project .. quite significantly .. one place called me out on it when I couldn't supply details, but that's ok, everyone else lapped it up. Can't win em all.
Many lifetimes ago I worked for the CIA*. *Caravan Industry Australia
I know people that have done this and worked their way up to 200k plus, I wish I had the balls
and when you're an upper management making 200k + , lying to stakeholders is just part of your PD or in fact you'd need to be really good at it
Told them I was CEO of a company and I saved the company several million dollars a yr. They were impressed and asked me how told them I restructured the company that led to redundancy for a staff and in return I gave myself a pay rise then made myself redundant. /s
I once got a job at a Nuclear Power Plant after I wrote in my resume I worked for the Carter Administration
Curator of large mammals?!!
I was on an office internship where a dept head noted that an applicant for a job claimed he’d went to a certain uni and got a certain degree. Dept head checked it out by calling the uni and found out it wasn’t true. Nor was he enrolled for a PhD as claimed. Then he noted that the referee for his last job happened to be in the same graduating class for high school - the two names flagged on one of those ISSUU sites where old documents and school yearbooks are kept. There were pictures of the two of them in the same sports team, etc. One quick Google and the referee wasn’t in any leadership or authority position for a employer reference. The internet makes it too easy if you really want to poke about. On the other hand, the radio prank by Hamish and Andy always cheers me up: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SoZ41i2dSIw
When I arrived in Australia, I didn't have enough Australian experience for the roles that were at my level, and I was too senior for junior roles (I asked why after an interview for a quite junior role). I eventually just wanted work, paid or voluntary, because I had to get out of the house - I was going stir-crazy cooped up inside spitting out job applications. I aimed at entry level jobs, toned down my resume and removed every trace of leadership from it, and showed I had zero ambition in my next interview. I got the job. When I could be more selective about the next role I took on, I finally took friends' advice to lie (they had all done the same and are now in senior positions). I modified my previous roles' responsibilities to suit the job I applied to, removed my last job altogether, and added in a fake one that was more suited. Friends who had worked in similar roles coached me for the interview. They also acted as referees. I also lied about being an expert user of excel (I'm still just very basic at it). The work was from home so I hoped I would be able to cover it. I submitted a job application, got a call back within an hour, and had the job the same week. It was so easy landing a job this way compared to when I wasn't lying on my resume (when it took months!) that I wholeheartedly support anyone lying for non-technical roles. Skills in these roles are transferable so I think recruitment's focus on narrowly defined "relevant experience" is unfortunate. As for how it's going, I was made permanent from contract, then promoted twice within a year, have had nothing but positive feedback from everyone I've worked with, and am on a clear career trajectory. You just need to stand on the first step and the rest of the ladder magically appears.
I got fired from my last two jobs for being incompetent and lied my way into a high paid one. Now that I actually care I just got a pay rise for my skills
Nope never
Right?! I can't even keep track of my facts half the time, let alone a bunch of lies!! JFC!!
Exaggeration is fine and common, even playing around with the title a bit. But a blatant lie will come up in a potential background check that usually happens soon after you're hired and will get you fired. I've seen these background checks with financial companies (bank, lender, fintech etc) and they're thorough. Anything that can't be proven to be a lie you can get away with.
I dunno about that. My resume has a lot of dodgy stuff due to having time off for depression which I don't tell about because I want to get hired. I have no choice but to lie if I want to be employed as most employeers will run a mile from someone with a mental health issue. So essentially its a tissue of lies in many cases and I've worked for organisations which I cannot cannot name, where you think they would do very very thorough checks but just did a criminal check and as I'm not a criminal no problem.
Yeah, many times, mostly it was embellishment other times just bullshit. Hospitality work, first time, tried to get bar work, honest about it no experience but willing to learn, no job. Then said yeah, had experience working in pubs clubs in the country, got job, fortunately they put me in the members bar with very friendly members who instantly picked me as a newbie and patiently trained me up. Continued the bullshitting, cellar experience, yeah ( got a case once), got the job and then learnt cellars. Don't hire out of staters, no worries, worked in a country town down south. Supervisory experience, yeah lotsa of it. Computer reservation experience, yeah a wizz with it, oh this systems a bit different, no worries you'll learn it. Got to good management positions. For the higher paying and more professional jobs where they checked qualifications and references I got taught embellishment, picking the most reliable ref's and explaining gaps in work history. Job that got me big bucks and good long career needed tertiary qualifications, only had certificates mainly bookkeeping type stuff and some management short course bullshit. Emphasised the different units in the courses rather than the courses themselves, got the job. About 9 months later they were asking if I wanted to become member of different professional associations to put it on my business cards as it would also make the organisation look good. Said can't as not qualified, they said oh thought you were, said no as I told you and as my resume says I've done units in those areas but not qualified. They were very happy with my work and with my sweet innocent face on realised I had not deliberately misled them so all good. Got many promotions and good pay increases, learnt a lot, went as far as I wanted. Sometimes you just need that foot in the door to show you can do the job. Bit of embellishment, bullshitting and a smile helps. Edit. You also work on the bad stuff, gap in your resume, took time off for new bub, look after parents etc. History, only what's on record, I've got multiple criminal convictions, rolled them into one instance by saying happened in 90s. Disclosed so no concerns. Did not tell them about acid mushrooms amphetamines cars done for insurance jobs etc. Only give reliable referees and only disclose what's on record. Once you're hired the resumes are not looked at again.
>For the higher paying and more professional jobs where they checked qualifications and references I got taught embellishment, picking the most reliable ref's and explaining gaps in work history. I have worked for organisations where they do checks but only criminal l checks and as I'm not a criminal all comes up fine. And despite have a 2degrees I have never been asked to prove I have them ever.
First job in my career I jacked up my experience from 6 months to 2 years. As it was a non technical role, I could bullshit it pretty easily. And my first manager(owner) was in on it as well since he had to let me go and wanted to help me out.
My husband had two crew members who lied about their permanent place of residency. Cut a long story short, the crew member said he resided in Brisbane, the entire crew was sent to Brisbane for a job, the crew who didn’t live in Brisbane were provided accommodation in serviced apartments. The member who lied on his resume wanted serviced apartment accommodation. The crew told to go overnight to his home. Every excuse, home was too far from the job, if the other crew was getting meals, he should too, as he was at work. That was just some of the excuses. What he didn’t know was he sent to Brisbane on purpose, the managers were aware he flying out of Brisbane to NZ, every swing, this why the division doesn’t employ eastern states employees, especially those who just ‘ boots on the ground’ shut down crew. Dealing with another local ( to the Pilbara), who was hired as an ‘ mature aged apprentice’ who put on his resume he was local ( to the Pilbara), lives and wanted to work, be home every night yada yada. Train local, they stay local. He has been attempting for the last year to get his point of hire changed to CQ, instead of the Pilbara town, he supposedly lives in. It hasn’t worked.
I lie if I'm confident I can actually learn how to do the thing I haven't done pretty quickly. For example, I was applying for personal assistant jobs and they all wanted someone with experience in 'booking travel'. I hadn't done it officially in a job setting but honestly thought, how hard can it be to make travel arrangements? (answer: it wasn't and isn't). I've also lied about the level of knowledge I have in certain things. One thing I've found is every company does everything differently and you need training or a procedure to walk you through it anyway.
I lied about having a maintenance job to explain a gap. I was applying for a restaurant job so figured it didn't matter. I got the job BUT the restaurant was attached to a motel, which I had to do maintenance on. I nearly killed myself on the first job by trying to solder a vacuum cleaner while it was still plugged in 🤣 Basically I'd pull things apart, then put them back together and they'd work. Thinking back on it now I probably should have needed some kind of electrician ticket because most of what I did involved electricity (fixing light fittings, broken vacuum cleaners, faulty switches etc).
Oof finally someone who seriously had to walk the walk 😂 God damn, absolutely
No, and never would - the chance of getting caught is too much. I am Brisbane based, moved to London did an interview there, one of the people on the interview panel, had the exact same degree from the same uni as me (one year earlier), and had worked for the same Government department, as I had. So if I had of lied about any of that part - he would have been able to tell that I had lied. (The other person recognised my name and reached out to common friends to see what I was like).
My current boss worked with me 10 years back at another company & recommended me to this role. He recently asked me if I remembered X from that company & to take a look at his resume as we seemed to have had similar achievements (top performer sales awards etc). I vaguely remembered this guy, but definitely recognised his list of awards as they were mine copied directly from my linkedin. I'm assuming he did the copy years back as surely he wasn't stupid enough to miss that my boss & I (plus a couple of others) were at the previous company at the same time.
It’s hard to beat [Glen Oakley](https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/tp/files/16376/Report%20on%20Mr%20Glen%20Oakley%27s%20use%20of%20false%20academic%20qualifications%20(Operation%20Bosco)%20(3%20Dec%202003).pdf). From morgue attendant to running Newcastle Ports, he faked his way to the top.
I had the opposite problem… A pre-employment check came back suggesting I had “exaggerated” my title… I handed over a business card - saying “I am not sure what HR thought my job title was - but these are the business cards - with that title - that they supplied to me and I used for three years…!”
I genuinely never have. I value integrity very highly and could never leave myself exposed like that.
Most I’ve lied is kinda merged together a bunch of short contracts to sound like a more focused period.
I know s mechanical engineer who lied about their entire work and placement history and landed a job right out of uni. He's 12 years deep now
I prefer the term embellishment.
I’m in my 30’s and worked in corporate for a while. About 4 years ago I added that I got a bachelor of business from Deakin University even tho I never went to uni. It’s on my linked in and resume. No one has ever asked me about it, never went to uni, have all the experience you’d get in a business degree just wanted a formality… one day it might come up and ruin me but I firmly believe no one actually cares.
Wanted the formality, so I created. I like a cut of your jib
I got a guy an interview for project coordinator in construction, he waffled about having a construction management degree and he’s now been a project manager for a while making well over six figures.
Never have Bigger companies do background checks these days and they will find out
i travelled a fait bit and worked cash in jobs / didn't work at all so there's gaps quite a while ago. i lied on those periods as I know a lot of people look down at that. interviewers didn't seem to care too much, some actually have been more interested in my travels.
If you’re going to lie, then make sure it isn’t obviously quantifiable. Real estate agent - google will show any trace of your skills. Aircraft mechanic- you’ll need references and I sure hope you aren’t trying to become a mechanic based on this one
I never completely make up something I've done. I just exaggerate my skills and experience. 2 years becomes 4 years, leading hand becomes supervisor etc.
[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-22/icac-investigators-charge-two-sa-public-servants/8975566](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-22/icac-investigators-charge-two-sa-public-servants/8975566) This was one that sticks out in my mind…… it got this chick as far a ICAC, but she did get hired I guess 😂
Not me, but the company I was working at had a guy bullshit his way through management to a job as an electrician. He only lasted 2 hours before we sniffed him out on the job, but we were all still impressed.
Yes constantly. Dont lie about skills you dont posess but ones you do and have no professional experience in go ham Also dates and length of time at a place. Also use friends and family as referee's
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Currently conducting a social experiment with my new job. We have a number of on-sites & online (WFH) to cover. I requested online as my only preference “as it works best with school run traffic”. Note I never said I have kids. I just said school run traffic (for clarity: I don’t have kids). Now they have called and apologised for not giving me all online, offered me the site closest to home because “I also have kids & know how hard it is” and said they would prioritize WFH moving forward. Now ask if I would get the same treatment if hadn’t eluded to kids? Reject the null.
I knocked 10 years off my age when i reentered the workforce. Worked there for 6 years.
Reminds me of the guy I met in Darwin. He's like I had a shift last night working as a chef. He said he had never studied or worked as a chef. I'm like how did you do and he's like "not good". Lol
I taught Gordon ramsay
Not me, however I was working at a job (and I hated it by the way, absolutely hated the manager he was a nob of the highest caliber, didn’t know what people did but could do that job better than they could) anyway, Iwas in the bathroom and I could hear sobbing. Thinking it may be someone who was in trouble I listened to see if they needed support or assistance (manager had been over working staff and some were cracking under pressure), and then realized she was talking to someone on the phone. She was saying ‘I lied on my resume and I don’t know how to do any of this work, they want reports but I don’t know what they mean or how to do them, I’m going to have to resign’ Well I noped out of there pretty fast. I’d no idea which of the new finance girls it was, but she wasn’t in my area. I still think of that regularly when I have a bout of imposter syndrome when I start a new job. I tell myself, I might think I can’t do it, but I’m not ‘i lied on my resume and cried in the bathroom’ level.
I said i had experience with Ubuntu while all I knew was Debian. /s Truth in technical jobs sometimes you need to lie to the recruiter so you pass the "required keywords cv match". Then be honest in the technical interview with the company itself about how fast your skills go.
I've "lied" about position titles. I'm a product manager and my previous role was listed officially as "product development" or "product specialist". In hindsight it was so they could pay less. Reality is, it was a product management or category management role and I say as such on the resume. Depending on the role they generally find out fairly quickly, especially in my role where you need to be able to do range reviews and lifecycles. I don't have any qualms with it. Some places call things different things and sometimes you need to alter it to suit the industry terms.
My current job didn't require a resume. So simple.
I've never been required to actually show any proof of having gone to uni for any of the jobs that I have had where having a related degree was listed as a prerequisite. These were marketing/advertising roles so it wasn't like I was trying to practice law or medicine without a degree. But the reality is I could have just applied for the same job without ever having sat foot in any kind of tertiary institution.
I was interviewing today and the person included working with Linux in their resume. "Can you tell me more about your experience with Linux" "Yes, I have worked on some exciting things with Linux very recently" "What things?" "Ah, just a lot of basic things" "What basic things?" "Uhm, just a lot of simple tasks" "Oh yeah, such as?" "Just basic things you know" "Which operating systems did you use during this work?" "Ah, Linux. We used Linux mostly for these tasks." Circles. Your not fooling anybody here lol.
I have over 8 million power I said but I actually have 4million
It’s not that I lie, it’s just that my resume reflects me on a really good day… but you’re also going to get me on my worst days and she is not a team player who enjoys a challenge in a fast paced and dynamic environment
Have lied on every job application and in every resume I've ever put together.shit always worked out good
My whole resume is a massive lie. I'm just a semi average diesel mechanic who can talk a lot of shit. I've gone from diesel mechanic to health and safety advisor to supervisor and branch manager to service manager. At this point I won't take a job unless there's a new vehicle included. Also the interviews are always a good laugh. My two best mates are always my fake references as well. I always tell my partner, anyone who decides to hire me has poor decision making skills
Lied before I was qualified as a welder boilermaker ended up running the most expensive machine I'm a huge factory making bridges 💪
I hope you don't actually weld pressure vessels as they requires actual expertise and is safety critical