How much would you lie to get a job?

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How much would you lie to get a job?

41 posts & 26 voices | Started 2 years ago by shoefiti | Latest reply from ex-pat

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shoefiti - Member

A mate of mine has recently re-located abroard to start a new job. He knows i'm not enjoying my present role and said he can get me a very well paid job with him, since he's on the interview panel. Now this would be a role that I have little/no experience of, yet he assures me i'd have no problems doing it, and would be answerable to him.

He says that i'd have to 'embelish' my C.V. (basically make up a shit load of experience!) to get the job thou, and lie through my teeth at interview. This i am certainly not comfortable with, yet he is convinced it's not a problem.

It would also mean time away from my family if i somehow got the job, again I'm not happy about this.

It is a tremendous opportunity thou to get in at managment level in a very well paid field, an opportunity i have never been afforded in my working life, and probably never will be again.

What would you do?

Posted 2 years ago #
ourmaninthenorth - Member

Not what your mate wants you to do.

Unless he'll personally underwrite the costs for you if it all goes t*ts up.

Posted 2 years ago #
wwaswas - Member

why can't your mate be honest?

he can say - "there's this great bloke I know who can do the job given half a chance" - he's putting his reputation on the line then not yours.

Posted 2 years ago #
wombat - Member

wwaswas - Member
why can't your mate be honest?

he can say - "there's this great bloke I know who can do the job given half a chance" - he's putting his reputation on the line then not yours.

Just what I was going to say.

Anything more than slightly "polishing" experience and ability should be avoided and even that can be a bid dodgy.

I once employed a guy on the recommendation of a member of staff who we found out later had lied on his CV and in interview, he was sacked for gross misconduct and the chap who recommended him as being ideal for the job was put on a final written warning.

Posted 2 years ago #
shoefiti - Member

I know, it's my worry too, he's convinced it won't and that I (we) wouldn't get found out. Apparently the whole place is full of bull shitters according to him, so I'd be the least of their worries. I'm also concerned for him, as it'll reflect very badly upon him if i screw up (again he assure me this couldn't happan) as he's taking all his family with him!!!

There's not a massive finacial cost to me, should it all turn to custard but he seems adamant that i should be there too, maybe just so he has someone to ride with

Posted 2 years ago #
shoefiti - Member

wwaswas - Member
why can't your mate be honest?

he can say - "there's this great bloke I know who can do the job given half a chance" - he's putting his reputation on the line then not yours.

yer, that's the conclustiom the wife and i came up with. maybe that's not the way it works in his line of work, i'm not sure, as i've never done it!!! He tells me it's a who you know deal, yet if that's the case why do i have to lie so much?

Posted 2 years ago #
wombat - Member

Looks to me as though he wants sombody he knows to be there with him as a bit of moral support/"partner in crime" (not implying anything illegal you understand, just a useful expression)

Posted 2 years ago #
djglover - Member

If I knew for certain I could do the job I would. If I thought I'd get found out, then no.

Posted 2 years ago #
samuri - Member

presumably the job involves lying a lot....

Is it in Marketing or Sales?

Posted 2 years ago #
shoefiti - Member

No, not marketing or Sales.

Posted 2 years ago #
shoefiti - Member

I wouldn't have any issues blagging that!

Posted 2 years ago #
awh - Member

Could it be that you're generally intelligent and perfectly capable at doing the job, but they need to tick boxes, i.e. give an example of when you have... etc which you can't do yet because you've never been required to.

I had a manager who said he expected me to say certain things in a promotion interview, I would have considered it lying if I had. Feedback was he was expecting me to lie and would have put it down to exuberance in the interview if he was questioned and everyone else had done this!

Posted 2 years ago #
shoefiti - Member

That sounds about right. As HR would also be in the interview i'd assume that they would be questioning his motivation if the boxes weren't ticked, and other candidates did have the boxes ticked. I believe him that i'd be able to do the job, why else would he risk putting his head on the line? I presume that he know's that his word is/wouldn't be enough to guarantee the position.

Posted 2 years ago #
joolsburger - Member

My advice is don't do it. I interview around 15 people a week in my current contract and have interviewed at least several hundred people over the course of my recruitment career.

I'd like to think I can spot a bullshitter
I'd take personal refs to allay any fears about someones honesty
It's likely that if you were sucessful at interview despite his claims someone would watch your performance from afar and cause you problems in the future.

It's been my experience that if something seems too good to be true it's because it is.

Posted 2 years ago #
CaptainFlashheart - Member

If you lie, you will be caught. Especially in a professional company environment.

Posted 2 years ago #
vinnyeh - Member

Going against the sway of opinion here...

I'd be tempted to give it a go if:
the job being offshore there'd be no repercussions to my employment here if it went tits up. The world is pretty wild in some places and jobs, full of chancers, and bs'ers. If you can pull this off then bring those skills back to this country you've started yourself off on a new career.
and you've got some genuine belief that you have at least some of the skills necessary, and can pretty quickly acquire the rest- presumably you do, else you wouldn't be asking the question.

Posted 2 years ago #
toby1 - Member

Would you really want to be a clueless manager? Doesn't sound ideal to me if it's a) managing people who know then job and b) you openly have said you don;t know anything about it. If it's a line of BSers then do you really want to join them, or is your mate BSing that you could actually do the job - as by definition he has suggested he is as much a BSer as the rest!

Posted 2 years ago #
shoefiti - Member

yer, and i'm not even a very good liar. I'm sure a lot of folk do, and get away with it, but that's just not me, never has been. I think i'll email him and tell him no! If it didn't invlove actual lying I'd love the opportunity, but I have my values, I can't afford to have them, but I do have them. oh well!

Posted 2 years ago #
Keva - Member

I wouldn't lie.

Posted 2 years ago #
grumm - Member

I couldn't do it personally - don't think I would cope very well with the stress of potentially being found out, even if it was unlikely.

Posted 2 years ago #
shoefiti - Member

vinnyeh - Member
Going against the sway of opinion here...

I'd be tempted to give it a go if:
the job being offshore there'd be no repercussions to my employment here if it went tits up. The world is pretty wild in some places and jobs, full of chancers, and bs'ers. If you can pull this off then bring those skills back to this country you've started yourself off on a new career.
and you've got some genuine belief that you have at least some of the skills necessary, and can pretty quickly acquire the rest- presumably you do, else you wouldn't be asking the question.

Don't say that, or i'll change my mind! But yes I had managed people and projects before, but not on the scale he's working on, by a long chaulk. There is a lot of BS'ers out there, i've heard some horror stories, and everyone has to start somewhere, and not everyone starts at the bottom - but I'm not a great one for BS unfortunatly, if I was i'd give it a shot for sure, as I know i could pull it off.

My mate has worked in this industry 20+ years and is convinced i'd be able to do it, and enjoy it. I'm just not happy with the lying to get the position.

Posted 2 years ago #
lowey - Member

I would be tempted to have a go, but I am a terrible lair. I suspect I would be found out within minutes.

Posted 2 years ago #
BigButSlimmerBloke - Member

Tricky

I interview regularly and if I found someone had outright lied on their CV, I'd be looking at getting shot of them, UNLESS they were actually good at the job, in which case it'd probably amount to a severe talking to.
So IMHO, it depends on how confident you are that
1 - you can do the job
2 - you can blag the interview, if it's a panel there might be a bullsht-spotter or two there, and
3 - the references won't give you away

Posted 2 years ago #
joolsburger - Member

He's your mate worked with you in the recent past? If not how is he able to say that you can do the job with such confidence?

Posted 2 years ago #
mike-at-dialledbikes - Member

Difficult to say without knowing what the job involves.

If other peoples' health/safety depends on it, then no.

Posted 2 years ago #
brooess - Member

More important in this life to be true to yourself

Posted 2 years ago #
Midnighthour - Member

How well/long have you known this guy? Do his friends find him trustworthy and reliable? Does he flit from job to job or person to person without any concern or is he a constant sort of person? I would consider his history and what people think of him as a friend / collegue when considering how much to believe the picture he is painting and how realistic it might or might not be.

But whatever you choose, be sure you can feel comfortable looking yourself in the mirror in the months to come. How you see yourself is very important to future comfort.

Posted 2 years ago #
GJP - Member

I think you should find yourself a new mate. Would you really want to work alongside someone with so little integrity. He sounds like a complete ****.

Posted 2 years ago #
crikey - Member

Boot on other foot; how would you feel if you went for a job and the guy who got it only did so because his mate was already there?

Somewhat dismayed?
Perhaps a little put out?

It all sounds dishonest, to be honest.

Posted 2 years ago #
monkey_boy - Member

sounds too god to be ture, i wouldnt do it.... it could all easily go tits up in the future, you or your mate could slip up one day and the shit could hit the fan.

Posted 2 years ago #
furry_marmot - Member

from your replies, most of you are either totally naive or alarmingly unambitious. Do you think the world is some kind of perfectly truthful meritocracy? Why do so many unremarkable people spend so long "networking", if not in hope of opportunities like this one?

to the original poster, I really don't understand what you have to lose. provided you have a modicum of intelligence, you understand your job description and you don't mind spending some time away from your family, you'll be fine. Even if you get caught out at the interview you still haven't lost anything (beyond the cost of the flight, possibly). If once you're in the job you feel uncomfortable or don't like working abroad, stick it out for a couple of years then go back to the UK with a vastly-improved CV and a lot more experience. If you were applying for a promotion in your current field in the UK then obviously I wouldn't be so enthusiastic, but this isn't the case. go for it.

Posted 2 years ago #
vinnyeh - Member

well put furry_marmot.

How many of the naysayers have never exaggerated experience, salaries or changed the career emphasis on their cv's to get a job?

Posted 2 years ago #
joolsburger - Member

You two are truly princes among men.

Lying and cheating is the way forward you crack on mate. I'm glad I don't do business with you guys.

Posted 2 years ago #
JacksonPollock - Member

over the course of my recruitment career.

I'd like to think I can spot a bullshitter

Look round the office?

In my experience recruitment 'professionals' can mix it with the best of 'em in the lying, cheating & BSing stakes!

I would follow up any leads at the moment, nothing ventured and all that...although that said I wouldn't lie beyond 'painting a scenario in the best possible light' if that makes any sense?!

Posted 2 years ago #
FoxyChick - Member

Lie, and take the consequences.
I bloody hate people who lie and cheat the system.
Do it if you must, but you will be found out.

Posted 2 years ago #