Overheard a guy at the coffee shop say he lies on his resume about job dates

I was getting a refill last Tuesday and this dude was bragging to his friend about how he stretched a 6 month job into 2 years on his resume. Said everyone does it and it's no big deal. It got me thinking how that one little lie can mess up background checks or references down the road. Has anyone here ever been burned by a coworker who faked their experience?

4 comments

4 Comments

michael6692mo ago

Bet that recruiter saw right through the whole thing too.

the_wesley25d ago

@michael669 yeah you're probably right, recruiters spot that stuff more than people think. But what really gets me is when someone fakes a whole job title or company and it totally falls apart during a reference call. Like, @ruby_jones said, its not worth the risk for a few extra months, but what about the people who get away with it for years? How long do you think before the lies catch up to them?

ruby_jones2mo ago

Oh the tangled web we weave, right? That kind of stretching is just asking for trouble when someone actually checks. I've seen it backfire too many times where a promising hire gets canned their first week because the background check caught them. Employers are getting smarter about verifying dates and job titles now. It's just not worth the risk for a few extra months of padding.

spencer_park262mo agoMost Upvoted

Man, @ruby_jones you hit the nail on the head there. I knew one guy who stretched his last job by a full year and the recruiter actually called his old boss just to confirm dates. It ended up being this whole awkward situation where he had to backpedal and ended up losing the offer anyway.