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Ask HN: Lying on your resume

8 pointsby emilepetroneover 14 years ago
To make it clear, an ex lied on her resume for a $100k+ job. If you were in my shoes, and knew the company, what would you do?<p>The second piece to this question- what do people think of lying on your resume? I can't stand it- but I think it may be common place.<p>Thanks for your thoughts!

14 comments

mindcrimeover 14 years ago
<i>If you were in my shoes, and knew the company, what would you do?</i><p>What would I do? Not a damn thing.<p>It's not your job to right every injustice in the world; and it's questionable if there's any injustice here in the first place. Ok, she lied on her resume... big deal, getting a job is one thing, but keeping it is about performance. If she - in the end - can DO the job she was hired to do, does the lying on the resume bit really hurt anything? Not that I'm advocating lying, I'm just saying that "what's done is done" and that it's not your place to get involved.
rksprstover 14 years ago
Why are you even thinking about this? Move on. There's not much upside to you telling them (they might know, they might not care, hurt you down the line).<p>Either way, why are you even thinking about this? This is wasted time you could have spent doing something productive.
brgover 14 years ago
I would do absolutely nothing. The primary reason I can see you asking this question is that you are looking for justification to take revenge upon your ex. If that is correct, it is better for your own well being to move on.<p>Even so, the resume has little to do with a hiring decision once getting someone passed the initial bar. Hiring is completely dependent upon the interview and the background check. The resume is not used for much more than a sanity check.
wccrawfordover 14 years ago
Have you considered that it might be illegal to tell them? There are laws that prevent other companies from giving most information to a hiring company unless the applicant has listen a person as a reference, and then only that person can give more info.<p>I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me this is really risky for you and doesn't provide any benefit other than revenge.
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reesesover 14 years ago
Are you stalking the ex? There should be a seven-year waiting period before doing that kind of thing. Then it's just "catching up on Facebook."<p>If your knowledge of the company is material, then the most you'll want to do is possibly telling them to do their own fact-checking. I.e., if it's your best buddy's startup[1], then you call him or tell him face-to-face, with no written record. Use tone (sarcasm is good here, but when isn't it?) rather than word choice to convey that not all is as it seems.<p>It's possibly grounds for a slander or defamation lawsuit if your ex finds out that you called potential employers and called her a liar, so think about whether you are still carrying enough baggage that it's worth exposing yourself vs. using this as an opportunity to move on.<p>[1] In which case, your first words should be,'hey, bro code violation–stay way from exes!' Then you get to punch him once in the stomach the next time you see him.
freddealmeidaover 14 years ago
I think anyone that can get a 100k+ job probably doesn't really get it because of her resume. And you shouldn't care. Move on.
pygorexover 14 years ago
Big lie or little lie? Did she say she was manager of a large project when she shared most of the management duties with another employee? Or, is she fabricating a medical degree out of thin air?<p>Everyone puts their best face forward on a resume - and will usually stretching the truth a bit. But most don't engage in outright fraud to land a job. If she is doing <i>that</i>, well she may be facing liability down the road.<p>It's impossible to discern the severity of the lie from your question alone - for all I know you could be nitpicking douche-bag - OTOH she may be a conniving, money-grubbing harpie. Details, please.
usover 14 years ago
1. It is common place as f'd up as that is.<p>2. A lot of times, for higher level positions, it'll catch on fast and it's not uncommon for people to be let go.<p>3. As to whether or not you should let the company no, this part is tricky. The right thing to do is obviously tell the company whether or not she could perform the tasks. The problem though is it may ruin your relationship. It would have been better to prevent it from happening but what's done is done.<p>In reality it's not really your place to interfere but you're going to have to make a judgement call on whether or not you want to step in on this.
orijingover 14 years ago
Relevant: <a href="http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2011-02-20" rel="nofollow">http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2011-02-20</a><p>According to Dilbert at least, lying is common...
nwmcsweenover 14 years ago
I don't lie but I sell myself, I also don't really create a resume but more of an overview of what I can do and a why / why not. On the other hand as an employer I don't care about previous jobs unless they're exceptional and I want to know what you know and why I should hire you and also why I shouldn't and a few references to chat to, if I need anything else I call the person.
gtbover 14 years ago
You can't separate work and lying ... if further explanation is needed, just check Feb 20 Dilbert!
davidk0101over 14 years ago
It probably happens all the time and you are just wasting your time even thinking about it.
davidmurphyover 14 years ago
Lying is wrong. I'm glad that person is your ex, not your current partner.
nikaover 14 years ago
You want to be a startup founder, right? Look forward.<p>Your Ex may turn into a valued contact in the future, or might be your future boss, you never know. If they lied then it will really depend on whether they can do the job or not, and a resume only gets you in the door, interviews are what gets you jobs anyway.<p>That said, I once received a resume from someone who listed as one of their past employers a company I'd also worked for. He listed his work there as being on a project that I'd worked on, and partially led. One with less than 6 people on it. One that happened without him being involved at all!<p>I was amazed at the nerve. Would have been easy to call the company if we'd been reference checking and found out, but worse, I'd worked there so I knew right away it was a lie.<p>We uninvited him from his interview.
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