Can employers know if you lied on resume? If so, how? (employees, highest)
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A resume full of places that there's no evidence they exist, they're all out of business, all in Vietnam or something, etc. is going to be pretty suspicious.
That's my real resume though. Only my current company and immediately previous company are still around; the rest went under. (amusingly, one was bought by Oracle... and the background check firm told me that Oracle told them they couldn't find the data from that company. Probably couldn't afford an Oracle license)
Most companies that do background checks only look at criminal records, credit checks, and employment verification. Some of the large banks and financial service firms look at tax returns, but that is rare. It is actually not too hard to falsify employment history. Verifying employment history is not like looking at someone's criminal record. There is no national database that shows where a person worked. Most companies use a third party agency to verify employment. If this is the case, it is a lot easier to falsify than if an HR manager is doing the verifying. The people who work at those third party agencies are paid nearly minimum wage and usually have to make 30-40 calls per day on various different applicants being hired by many different companies. They don't have time to check whether a phone number a person gives is actually a former employer or a friend posing as a former employer.
I do not mean me - I never lied on my resume, and really do not plan to. But, I am wondering about other people because I know some people do.
I know you can lie and say you worked there and whatever, and obviously fudge what you did, but do employers really know if you lied or not? I know they ask for references, but is there a way for them to go beyond references to see if you actually worked there as a double-check or even to make sure you didnt tell someone to lie for you? Its easy to lie and get someone to reference because they dont know who they are talking to when they actually call - plus they dont know what number you gave them unless its obvious like a work number. Some people do not have work numbers anyways, so they say the employer can call their cell phone.
The only thing that is obvious is if you are hired and you cannot do the work. Then it was obvious you lied about doing it before. Unless you told them upfront you dont know certain things or only know the basics. Another obvious thing is education because they can always call the school and if you lied, its obvious - they never heard of you, dont have you in system, never graduated like you said you did, etc.
Employers will eventually know that you lied depending on your performance or knowledge on the expertise you purport to posses. Employers nowadays conduct background checks to identify on the consistencies in your resume. This might not go unnoticed a time if you lied on your resume. Candidates in most cases brand themselves with bigger job titles which is blunderers. It is always good practice to keep your resume to be the same as those on professional networks.
Yes they will know every last detail from what comes from the background check; hiring dates, education credentials etc. The only thing they might not know is if you embellish your responsibilities. If they are factually true, yet seemed to be glorified in a resume, not sure they could call you out on that.
I had the same concern. Two of my four employers in the last seven years no longer exist. One can still be verified because it was part of a larger entity---the other one not-so-much. Funnily enough, when I applied for my current position, they weren't even smart enough to verify my one job with the larger entity and asked me for pay stubs/W2s. I was actually reapplying to the same place I left less than six months ago and they are making me go through everything AGAIN even though they already have my information on file.
There are some smaller employers that don't really do much in terms of verification. I know, because I worked at one or two places like that. The people they had working there sometimes---YIKES.
In terms of actually lying, I knew someone who told me they used to work for a company and the business was to provide fake references and/or if someone called to verify employment, they'd give them that too. Probably a little harder to do nowadays for someone to do that but not then.
You've pretty much summed it up. I will say that I saw someone let go after working for several years in a highly paid news producer job when someone actually checked his college background to see if he went to the universities he had stated.
Problem is if you are ever caught in one lie--that's pretty much it.
We've let people go for lying on their application. Our application is quite clear about the consequences for lying on the application; and the 'size' of the lie doesn't matter...a lie is a lie.
I was a substitute teacher while looking for a job for less than 7 months and I did not put it on my resume. I just left the employment gap so it would not be suspicious. I was let go because some students watch Keele & Peele video on YouTube. Apparently they use a lot of curse words in their comedy skits. I was accused of not watching them close enough. Anyway, I was only substituting to have pocket change while I was job searching. I had no plan of becoming an educator. I really panicked when I found out my pre-unemployment check would be done by a 3rd party. Since a school district is government, your salary is reported. When I Googled my name, the 1st thing that came up is the salary with the title of substitute teacher. Never the less, I passed the 3rd party check. I think it was because the 2 jobs that I did give them totaled 13 years and both were with major corporations. The dates were accurate and I called human resource to get a correct phone number and address for both. Also my job titles matched. I also graduated from a major University , with a CIS Degree. I ordered a formal transcript and gave them the code to go the University site and download it. I have no criminal record and my credit is decent. Basically, I made sure that the information that I did provide was accurate and accessible; so no reason to double check.
If you think you can fudge on your academic background, think again. Anyone with a credit card can validate your attendance, school and degree: Verification Services Portal | National Student Clearinghouse Don't lie on things that can be verified. In fact, don't lie at all. It's not worth losing your professional credibility over.
I always say lie at your own risk on a resume. It is surprising how many people do it.
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