Declining job offer because I lied on my resume (employment, job application, apply)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi Everyone. Thank you for reading.
I received a job offer contingent of a background check (via Hire Right), however I know that I will be caught lying on my resume. I lied about my education (I completed only 3 years, because I was helping my parents out with their business) and I lied about one of my jobs (because I need the experience).
I am not a bad person, nor do I believe in taking advantage of a company for money. I just want to be able to get my foot in the door, and climb my way up. I feel totally guilty about the whole situation, because the ladies whom I interviewed with were amazing...basically a great fit for me.
My options are to withdraw my application, go through with the background check (and get denied), or confess to the Office Manager whom I interviewed with.
I'm thinking...if I do confess, then maybe it will shed light on my honestly and I can still have my integrity intatct.
Can someone please advise me on what the best possible solution is?
I would appreciate it very much.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,550 posts, read 81,103,317 times
Reputation: 57750
Quote:
Originally Posted by scarletlee
Hi Everyone. Thank you for reading.
I received a job offer contingent of a background check (via Hire Right), however I know that I will be caught lying on my resume. I lied about my education (I completed only 3 years, because I was helping my parents out with their business) and I lied about one of my jobs (because I need the experience).
I am not a bad person, nor do I believe in taking advantage of a company for money. I just want to be able to get my foot in the door, and climb my way up. I feel totally guilty about the whole situation, because the ladies whom I interviewed with were amazing...basically a great fit for me.
My options are to withdraw my application, go through with the background check (and get denied), or confess to the Office Manager whom I interviewed with.
I'm thinking...if I do confess, then maybe it will shed light on my honestly and I can still have my integrity intatct.
Can someone please advise me on what the best possible solution is?
I would appreciate it very much.
Thank you.
Everywhere I have ever worked, falsification of a job application is grounds for rejection, if found out later (even years later) grounds for immediate dismissal. My suggestion at this time is to decline the offer hopefully before they waste time and money on the background check. If the ask why, try to up with something vague without lying again. If you have to admit to exaggeration. Confessing may make you feel better but managers do talk to managers at other companies and love to gossip about people that tried to trick them, and may share your name.
Have you turned in th background check form yet? If not, fill it out honestly and they might not even check it. I've done it a few times. Once I said I had a masters degree in a different subject on my resume, so I just left the masters off all together on my background check form and they never even noticed.
So fill out the background check form accurately, and the background check is usually outsourced. Leave off your college education or just don't check the graduated box. They only verify if what is on your background check form is true. If there no red flags, the report will come back as cleared and HR likely won't look at it any further (i know from experience). They don't normally compare it to your resume. This is without a doubt your best option. Not having the degree you listed will turn up a red flag. Confessing will assure you don't keep the offer.
Last edited by Wrigley17; 05-20-2017 at 07:07 PM..
Decline the offer and move on (lessons learned). If you got to the background check, then you filled out the employment application. That small print on the employment application will say something like, "by signing this application you are attesting that information you provided is true and accurate. Falsifying information contained in this application is grounds for immediate termination" I am paraphrasing, but you get the point. You can be terminated should HR find a misalignment of facts from the background check. It's NOT worth lying about your degrees. Validation of degrees can be literally done with $10.00 and a click of a button.
Have you turned in th background check form yet? If not, fill it out honestly and they might not even check it. I've done it a few times. Once I said I had a masters degree in a different subject on my resume, so I just left the masters off all together on my background check form and they never even noticed.
So fill out the background check form accurately, and the background check is usually outsourced. Leave off your college education or just don't check the graduated box. They only verify if what is on your background check form is true. If there no red flags, the report will come back as cleared and HR likely won't look at it any further (i know from experience). They don't normally compare it to your resume. This is without a doubt your best option. Not having the degree you listed will turn up a red flag. Confessing will assure you don't keep the offer.
The background check was not given to me yet, because I did sign and send back the offer letter yet. The only worry I have about your advice is, if I do leave my education out, it won't align with my resume. That might be a red flag to HR. Plus, I also lied about a job position on my resume.
I just can't with these kinds of threads.
Everything old is new again.
In 2525 will there still be threads about how people shouldn't lie on resumes and job applications, and "what should I do because I lied on a resume and now they've called me...."
I just can't with these kinds of threads.
Everything old is new again.
In 2525 will there still be threads about how people shouldn't lie on resumes and job applications, and "what should I do because I lied on a resume and now they've called me...."
I get it, what I did was wrong. I'm living with the guilt and stress as is.
All I am asking is for advice, and not negative reactions.
The background check was not given to me yet, because I did sign and send back the offer letter yet. The only worry I have about your advice is, if I do leave my education out, it won't align with my resume. That might be a red flag to HR. Plus, I also lied about a job position on my resume.
Like I said, they might not compare your background check form to your resume. A third party will be doing the background check, not the hiring manager or HR. They likely won't look at your resume. I would put your education on there and just say not graduated yet.
As far as the job, did you have a job during that time? Did you lie about the company, the dates, the job title, or all of the above? Job titles also don't always throw up red flags because they OFTEN differ. As long as the dates and company match up. But even the companies don't always have to match up. I was contracted by a staffing company to work for Amazon, but I put Amazon down on my resume. On my background check I put down my staffing company and they only verified that. I could have said I worked for Microsoft on my resume and they wouldn't have known. Turned out they also had my job title wrong. No one ever question d anything. The important part for that is that the company and employment dates are correct on the form.
I suppose people have been lying to get jobs since forever.
Wrigley has the best advice posted. Perhaps you will slide by.
If you do happen to get this job, my advice would be to work your tail off for 2 years. Then apply elsewhere with your real credentials and the current job's experience with good reference. That way you will eliminate the risk of being discovered as fraud at this company at some future date. Lies do tend to surface.
The other thing you could do is look into completing that degree online. If you need that degree to get the job you want, you need complete it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
