When is it worth lying on your CV?

The answer to this we always hear is "it is never worth lying on your CV". But let's rephrase the question to "when is it worth the gamble of lying on your CV?" In other words sometimes it can pay off. And I'm not talking about stretching the truth, I'm talking about lying.

By and large, of course it's best not to lie. But the only reason a career coach will always say not to lie on your CV because they have to cover their own ass. Or else because they've no imagination. They can't be seen to say something like "sometimes it works but just be aware you're taking a gamble there, and keep very careful track on the things you lied about". Or if they said something like "it's impossible to predict if an interviewer will notice such a detail, and whether or not they'd go to the trouble to verify it". So can you lie about minor things that are far in the past?

But sometimes you can also tell big lies. As an example, many may know that with a lot of graduate positions many companies will state that a minimum of a certain grade needed. So I know this one guy who got a 2:2 degree and who lied and said he got a 2:1 in the application. It wasn't checked and he got the job for which he otherwise would never even have been called for interview. And now a few years on, the grade of his degree doesn't matter anymore, it'll be all about the work experience he's got since getting that job!!

It's all very well to put whatever it takes on the CV to get you to interview stage, but if you're going to lie about something, you should keep track of it so you don't get caught out. It'm a matter of asking yourself "do I have a referee that associated with the job where I lied? and may they ask for that referee?". But all in all, if you're clever about where you lie, it can work really well to go with a good impression you make in an interview.

I view it as a gamble that depends on a lot of factors. It also depends where you are in your career, and on the company who's interviewing you. If you're just starting out, then you don't have a reputation to ruin. It's funny interview coaches can't be seen to say this. Maybe it's because most of them were never in that position in the first place.

 

When you want a job

Find a friend that works somewhere where they answer the phone to give a fake reference

 

Only when the Gamble pays off

 

In the US there are a few cases of people graduating with Phds and going on to have successful careers, who turned out to be illiterate. Forty years of extensive studies concluded that the amount of working memory you have is the only reliable measure of anyone's career potential. The better your memory, the better a liar you can become, explaining why Donald Duck is now president. For many people, his lies are transparent, but he is one liar in a culture of liars, who have all been lying to themselves for so long they've all but forgotten what the truth sounds like.

 

well, you shouldn't put on there that you got fired after 6 days from your last job.

 

10 jobs in one year is not good either

 

When you think that there is a reasonable chance that lying would be advantageous and that you wouldn't get caught.

But at the end of the day, your best bet would be to fix the things that you need to lie about, and just be honest.

 

Depends what your lie is.

If you're applying for a job where you have a good idea of how everything works, but don't actually have any experience, it's probably pretty easy to get away with.

Having a phoney reference helps.

You need to choose your own level of involvement in these matters.

 

If you don't lie, they are not gonna accept you in their jobs, right?

 

Honesty is the best policy. Don’t be a liar

 

Mondays.

 

Is there ever a good reason to lie?? Tell one lie, then tell another to cover the first, and on and on it goes.

It's like a drug addict saying they will only get high this one time, after coming out of rehab. A lie is like a bee hive....Easy to get the bees out...try putting them back in.

 

A good lie doesn't need another lie to cover it

 

What part of a lie is good?? Wrong is wrong...no matter how clever someone may be.

 

A lie that is 'waterproof' is a good lie. I'm not using the word good in a moral way here obviously. But wether it fulfills its purpose.

 

You mean lie with a prayer and a hope that it will never come back to hurt you...okay.

If a lie could save my life or family...sure.

To rob someone else of an opportunity...nope. If you don't have it, and lied to get it, then someone else loses that opportunity. Sure it may work...But when that promotion comes, and someone else gets it and not you...Just Karma returning that favour.

 

We can't all be great liars

But although I don't necessarily advocate lying here at all I do feel like pointing out that if I get a job its at the expense of another job seeker regardless wether I use a lie or not.

 

To certain extent...

Arguable. White lies perhaps. But it seems unsure if a vast majority lies on their cvs. A lot already don't solely because they fear it may come back at them later (they lack a good lie obviously )

It's often used metaphorically, but even if believed in literally like a force; people seem to believe in far crazier things. The concept of karma makes sense in a way.

 

I also have women on my mind when I say stuff