Biggest resume lie you got away with?

[eastcoastguyz]

Originally Posted by Berteau

What is the biggest resume lie you or someon you know has gotten away with?

I felt an IT contractor's claim he had a Master's Degree in CS was suspect. I became suspicious when talking to him about his education that he referred to his Master's degree as being "out of date". He also didn't need the Master's degree considering how much experience he had, and guys from his generation didn't often get a Master's in CS. If they got a Master's it was usually in Math, EE or ME.

So I called the college and they revealed he didn't graduate from there, and was never enrolled in the Master's degree. But he had been enrolled in the undergraduate degree program for two years and dropped out and no degree.

The thing was, he really didn't need a Master's degree for the job considering he had so many years of experience already, but he was sporting a big ego the way he talked and so I sensed there wasn't something legit about the guy. It turned out I was right. And the place he claimed to have an undergraduate degree from he didn't have a degree from that place either.

I don't know why people lie about something that is so easy to check. You can call up any college, and ask if someone has a degree from there and what kind of degree, and the dates the attended.

[mangomadness]

I’ve known people to lie about the employment at a fake company and have a buddy act as their “manager”, but it’s way too easy to verify school enrollment status, dates, and degrees. Plus you could be asked for transcripts at any time, especially if you’re attempting to use your degree as a major hiring point and reason for an increased starting salary.

“Oh, you say you have a Master’s degree? Well, we were only paying 75K for this job, but this is different! We will pay you six figures and we won’t bother to verify that you have it.”

Same thing with certifications. It’s easy to verify with the certifying entity whether or not you have a credential. My previous employer verified my PMP certification as a part of my background check. Don’t put down letters that don’t belong there.

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by Berteau

What company doesn't verify education these days? Thats hard to believe. Did he tell the truth initially when he got his original job

Many of them don't. Why? There are a lot of schools and universities that have moved away from having the registrar verify education to have a third party service fill that role. The National Student Clearinghouse is where most of this can be done for free, but I think you have to have the candidate's permission, which shouldn't be a big deal if the employer communicates the desire to verify education rather than trying to be sneaky about it.

This should work for most community colleges and state higher education systems. I don't know about private colleges.

National Student Clearinghouse

[eastcoastguyz]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

Many of them don't. Why? There are a lot of schools and universities that have moved away from having the registrar verify education to have a third party service fill that role. The National Student Clearinghouse is where most of this can be done for free, but I think you have to have the candidate's permission, which shouldn't be a big deal if the employer communicates the desire to verify education rather than trying to be sneaky about it.

This should work for most community colleges and state higher education systems. I don't know about private colleges.

National Student Clearinghouse

You don't need to have the candidate's permission or even be an employer to find out if someone graduated from a specific college and with what degree. When I did this, I didn't even have to identify who I was and why I was asking. Simply called the college and asked and they provided the information over the phone.

I asked the college I graduated from. They said they use the National Student Clearinghouse, and that permission isn't needed because they regard the information of their graduates to be "directory information". The inform provided without permission is the date of graduation, the degree and major. Anything else would require permission.

So it is pretty easy to verify a degree claim. With the use of third-party background check companies they cover the whole thing including verifying education. But to go transcripts, they would need to be authorized.

[Copymutt]

After 40 yrs of owning a closely held corp. The task of finding employables is the part of owning a business that I do not miss. It was around a 30 to 1 shot even after a background and prior employer conversation.
The best clue I would get when inquiring the work ethics from a previous employment was, no comment.
They would miss the interview. They would not show up for the first day of work. They would steal for my customers. They would disappear from their daily assignments. In 40 yrs. three were wonderful and ended up with the business when I retired.
Employers today are much luckier, they can Automate. In addition to all the efficiency reasons, I've never had a piece of equipment lie to my face.