Home› Work & Study
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options

Fibbing on a CV

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Work & Study
I've applied for some new jobs and before I listed all these jobs I've done and out of 60 CV's over 6 months I've not had one reply! So today I decided to tidy up my CV will cutting out the crap 2-3 month temp jobs and extending the length of time I had been at other jobs. These jobs were dating back a few years so just extended them by about 6 months or a year.

I actually feel quite guilty but the CV looks so much better, I've not lied about the jobs I have done or the skills I have just the dates. Is this a very bad move or do a lot of people do it? I Googled "lying on a cv" and come to an article where a woman was jailed for lying :shocking: :crazyeyes

Comments

  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As long as you can face up to questioning if called to an interview. Employers know some job applicants will push boundaries to get selected. They will ask you to talk about aspects of your CV and most interviewers are good are catching signs of dishonestly in your replies. They look at the way you respond to questions and body language and will weed out nervous and insincere interviewees

    Its a tough job market and I bet there are lots of people who like you want to spice up their CVs with bits omitted and other bits enhanced. Only do it if you are confident you won't give it away under interview conditions
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    When they vet your work history they normally just ask your previous employer the dates you were there from and until, what you were doing, and why you left.

    Lying about the dates seems like an easy way to get caught out if I'm honest.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    Lying about the dates seems like an easy way to get caught out if I'm honest.

    Agreed, after qualifications it's the easiest thing for them to check.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    Agreed, after qualifications it's the easiest thing for them to check.

    End up called for interview and references taken up- then rejected for dishonesty. Worst feeling then getting CVs ignored
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Remember: the bigger the lie, the more people believe.

    "These alleged discrepancies in my employment dates, Sir, are when I actually took control of the company and left my previous position as head of the man-train, and took up position as the caboose."
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    dont do it. why are the temp jobs crap? you have a good reason for the shortness of them, they're 'temporary'. i think temp positions show you are flexible and adaptable. dont be so hard on yourself. maybe get a friend or family member to read over your cv? it's easy when you've been jobhunting for so long to sell yourself short. sometimes it needs new eyes looking at your cv to tell you that.
  • Options
    LauraOLauraO Posts: 535 Incredible Poster
    Hi Joss and welcome to the discussion boards :wave:
    You might find these articles on our Lifetracks website helpful: How to write your CV and Making your CV stand out from the crowd. As lots of others have said its not advisable to lie on your CV. It might be better to look at your CV and see where other improvements can be made to make it stand out.
    Hope these articles help, good luck and let us know how you get along.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    KiwiFruit wrote: »
    End up called for interview and references taken up- then rejected for dishonesty. Worst feeling then getting CVs ignored

    I think it's also against the law, you could end up in legal problems. Not 100% sure on that one though.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    I think it's also against the law, you could end up in legal problems. Not 100% sure on that one though.
    :yes:

    It's fraud.

    Trick is to use years instead of months as your timeline

    i.e. Instead of Jan-Jun 2010, you'd put 2010
    Aug 09-Jan 10 you put 2009-10

    You aren't lying then.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yarr. Also depending on what sort of job you are going for, they may well check back with your previous jobs going back fairly far. If you've lied it will be caught out at that stage.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If I'm caught out I know not to do it again. It's just that with so many applications sent out I got somewhat disheartened at no interviews and thought "why bother?". I was told by the job centre when I was on JSA last year to "close any gaps" in your CV as employers don't like to see these gaps. My gaps are where I was unemployed and needless to say I just left the gaps open until now so I thought employers embellish job adverts, why not do it with my CV?

    It is lying at the end of the day but I can provide legit references and qualifications/jobs and their titles are true, just the dates are a little exaggerated.
  • Options
    littlemissylittlemissy Posts: 9,972 Supreme Poster
    Joss wrote: »
    If I'm caught out I know not to do it again. It's just that with so many applications sent out I got somewhat disheartened at no interviews and thought "why bother?". I was told by the job centre when I was on JSA last year to "close any gaps" in your CV as employers don't like to see these gaps. My gaps are where I was unemployed and needless to say I just left the gaps open until now so I thought employers embellish job adverts, why not do it with my CV?

    It is lying at the end of the day but I can provide legit references and qualifications/jobs and their titles are true, just the dates are a little exaggerated.

    But it's not worth it if you're caught out and it may affect job prospects in the future. If you're looking at one particular industry, big boss men do speak to each other. Word of mouth can go quite far in the job hunting business. And if I heard that you lied to someone else I wouldn't want to interview you at all.

    Do what MoK said - use years instead of months - it isn't lying but could improve the way it looks, although I also agree with the comment about flexibility. And in this current jobs climate, temp jobs are better than no jobs.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There is no dishonour in doing loads of temp jobs while looking for permanent employment. In the same circumstances, I would be inclined to lump the whole lot together under the general heading of "Various temp jobs" and describe the type of work you did. Consolidate those tasks and skills that you consider transferrable, e.g. customer service, cash handling, food hygiene, manual handling, and leave out the "crap" detail of your day to day work.

    The problem with lying on your CV, is that it can come back to bite you and could jeapodise a job some time in the future.
Sign In or Register to comment.