Can I get away with lying on my resume about supposed current employer? (job offer, employment)

[sinker123]

First let me say I know lying on your resume is wrong...No way around it. But I am getting desperate.

I left my employer is 2009 to go back to grad school...It ended up being a bad move and I never finished.

I posted my resume and with that gap heard nothing...then I altered the dates on my resume to make it seem like I am still working at my last job and then boom..I got tons of calls.

I worked in finance and I never had my current employer called when I was looking at other jobs.....It is almost as if your current employer is off limits.

I have not lied about anything I did at that employer and my other two employers will check out with references...I am assuming my future employer will check out these past employers and be happy with that and not contact the company, whom them think, is my current employer

PLEASE NO LECTURES....Just responses that will reference experience in this matter or plausible insigh

[LadyR1990]

Didn't you just ask this?

http://www.city-data.com/forum/work-...ified-can.html

[Koale]

Originally Posted by sinker123

First let me say I know lying on your resume is wrong...No way around it. But I am getting desperate.

I left my employer is 2009 to go back to grad school...It ended up being a bad move and I never finished.

I posted my resume and with that gap heard nothing...then I altered the dates on my resume to make it seem like I am still working at my last job and then boom..I got tons of calls.

I worked in finance and I never had my current employer called when I was looking at other jobs.....It is almost as if your current employer is off limits.

I have not lied about anything I did at that employer and my other two employers will check out with references...I am assuming my future employer will check out these past employers and be happy with that and not contact the company, whom them think, is my current employer

PLEASE NO LECTURES....Just responses that will reference experience in this matter or plausible insigh

All apps I've ever filled out asked if it was 'OK' to contact current employer.
I always say 'NO'. No since rockin' that boat, right?
Good luck...gotta do what ya gotta do. Just make it work.
Koale

[kodaka]

Originally Posted by Koale

All apps I've ever filled out asked if it was 'OK' to contact current employer.
I always say 'NO'. No since rockin' that boat, right?
Good luck...gotta do what ya gotta do. Just make it work.
Koale

OP is talking about resumes, not applications. They are different things. When the job requires submitting a resume rather than filling out an application, the applicant does not have the opportunity to say that it is not okay to contact the employer.

[sinker123]

Originally Posted by kodaka

OP is talking about resumes, not applications. They are different things. When the job requires submitting a resume rather than filling out an application, the applicant does not have the opportunity to say that it is not okay to contact the employer.

Yes you are right...But I can't imagine a recruiter/potential employer just up and contacting your current employer without your consent or at least knowledge....It would cost me my job and thus a lawsuit on my behalf

[Koale]

Originally Posted by kodaka

OP is talking about resumes, not applications. They are different things. When the job requires submitting a resume rather than filling out an application, the applicant does not have the opportunity to say that it is not okay to contact the employer.

Thank you, Kodak for pointing out my over-sight. Can always count on you.
However...it will apply once OP starts filling out her applications.
Koale

[diorgirl]

Originally Posted by sinker123

Yes you are right...But I can't imagine a recruiter/potential employer just up and contacting your current employer without your consent or at least knowledge....It would cost me my job and thus a lawsuit on my behalf

Assuming you lie to get the first interview, what happens if you make it past the screening process and are asked to complete an application?

If you falsify ino on the application to get to the second interview, you will have signed an application that you know contains incorrect info. That will become evident when they check with your non-existent "current employer." And you will be disqualified for lying.

If, for some reason, the potential employer honors your request not to contact your "current" employer, they will check after you are hired. In that case you will be fired.

[ambient]

Originally Posted by sinker123

Yes you are right...But I can't imagine a recruiter/potential employer just up and contacting your current employer without your consent or at least knowledge....It would cost me my job and thus a lawsuit on my behalf

You're right, a recruiter or potential employer will not contact your current employer if you don't give permission. However, employers will undertake a background check to verify a variety of things about you, which may include employers, degrees received, where you lived, criminal record, credit history, etc. This will typically occur before they give you a job offer, but some may extend after with your job being contingent on passing. It varies from one employer to another. Also, recruiters may have contacts at a variety of other employers who they can discretely call upon to ask a few things about potential candidates...one never knows. Can you get away with it? Absolutely. But can you also get caught somewhere in the process? Absolutely. It's a calculated risk you're going to have to decide whether or not to take.

Also, if you do, will now have to maintain this lie into perpetuity and hope it never comes back to bite you later. It may not...but perhaps it may. Tough to say.

Personally, I wouldn't do it...but obviously you have to decide.

[sinker123]

Originally Posted by ambient

You're right, a recruiter or potential employer will not contact your current employer if you don't give permission. However, employers will undertake a background check to verify a variety of things about you, which may include employers, degrees received, where you lived, criminal record, credit history, etc. This will typically occur before they give you a job offer, but some may extend after with your job being contingent on passing. It varies from one employer to another. Also, recruiters may have contacts at a variety of other employers who they can discretely call upon to ask a few things about potential candidates...one never knows. Can you get away with it? Absolutely. But can you also get caught somewhere in the process? Absolutely. It's a calculated risk you're going to have to decide whether or not to take.

Also, if you do, will now have to maintain this lie into perpetuity and hope it never comes back to bite you later. It may not...but perhaps it may. Tough to say.

Personally, I wouldn't do it...but obviously you have to decide.

Thanks for your reply....I think you hit the nail on the head.....It is very possible to get away with it....also possible I get caught....Truthfully this is a lie that I dont think will turn into another....I think certain lie's are downright treacherous to make....i.e. making up education, making up a job you never had etc....this one doesnt highlight an experience I dont have or a job i didnt do...I am just extending the dates bc in this marketplace I cant get a job...and whats more risky then getting caught? Not eating

[lovetheduns]

Originally Posted by sinker123

First let me say I know lying on your resume is wrong...No way around it. But I am getting desperate.

I left my employer is 2009 to go back to grad school...It ended up being a bad move and I never finished.

I posted my resume and with that gap heard nothing...then I altered the dates on my resume to make it seem like I am still working at my last job and then boom..I got tons of calls.

I worked in finance and I never had my current employer called when I was looking at other jobs.....It is almost as if your current employer is off limits.

I have not lied about anything I did at that employer and my other two employers will check out with references...I am assuming my future employer will check out these past employers and be happy with that and not contact the company, whom them think, is my current employer

PLEASE NO LECTURES....Just responses that will reference experience in this matter or plausible insigh

It is not the resume you have to be worried about.

It will be the application and then the background check.

At my company (a company who would be hiring a lot of finance people, accountants, etc)-- you would be found out at the background check-- and you would summarily receive word that your application and your job offer has been rescinded due to the lie. See-- usually they will ignore a month or two of incorrect information (maybe you got your start date and end date wrong--two months being the ABSOLUTE maximum and depending on how much a "lie" they may not even allow the two months discrepancy).

IF You had already started work and they had not finished up your background check as soon as the results would come in-- they would terminate you, mark you ineligible for rehire-- and now you are equivalently fired. I have seen those termination reasons come down the pipeline (I worked for years in HR/Payroll/Benefits).

Also-- it may not be the "gap" that is really harming you.

See you basically have lied about your experience for an additional 1.5-2 years.

If I am hiring someone who needs 5 years of experience say as a Financial Analyst-- someone with say only 2 years is NOT going to be recruited when I want 5 years-- especially in this market when I can get 5 years experience.

You adding on an additional 1.5-2 years experience could make you look like that 5 years of experience when in reality I would have never looked at you because of those missed years.

Not to mention, even if you are putting on your resume the same job tasks you had at your last job-- it is really not relevant in terms of experience. Someone working 1-2 years is not going to have the depth and breadth and experience as someone with 5 years. It is the principle of this that makes my company have a policy for internal job bids that you have to have stayed at your current job for a minimum of a year before trying to move to a new role. Someone with less than a year can't say that they really accomplished but so much in a year's time in a professional role. Maybe if the job was purely data entry, but not for a professional job that usually takes longer than a few months to really learn the process, protocol, etc of the new job.

Not to mention-- in an interview your answers may seem "off." In the financial world, accounting (and I would think many other professions), there are policies, regulatory rules, etc that change and could have changed. If you are not speaking current to those-- it will seem like you were either at a level low enough where you may not be qualified for say the new role, or they will wonder why in the world do you seem "behind".

True, you may get hired by a company that has a really lax background checking process-- but most companies will outsource the background checking function or use a data warehouse such as The Work Number for verification of employment (or do it internally). They may get information back and then ask you the question to clear up the discrepancy, but in general most companies will consider it egregious lying that is not just an oversight.

At the end of the day, the resume is not a legal document-- whereas the application usually has some worded terms that state you are telling the truth etc-- so they could take action against you (rescind an offer, deny unemployment benefits, etc). So the resume is not the issue-- your application is-- AND-- the reference checking is not as a high priority as what a verification of employment will be-- and your verification of employment will come out with the truth-- even if you got your best friend to pretend to be your manager. Companies are not so naive to think references are objective.

You are playing with fire-- and would do better to reformat your resume to emphasis skills versus a timeline-- you could also show that you were attending school during the time period.