Should I come clean about a mistake on my Cv

Ellis931

AskAsk said:

Ellis931 said:

No but wat I'm saying is my apprenticeship ended in 2013 but from 2013 I was working for role 2 but I didn't have a contract until 2015 I can't say it any other way I don't understand what your not understanding 

this statement is fine, except for your additional statement that your apprenticeship overlapped with role 2 between 2013 to 2015, which is the reason why you muddled up the start date for role 2.

if it was simply because you were helping out in role 2 from 2013 to 2015 and no mention of the fact that you were doing an apprenticeship during that time, then that's fine, but this is not what you are proposing to say to HR.  you are proposing to tell HR that you were still doing your apprenticehip during 2013 to 2015, which is the overlapping bit.

if you do want to tell HR that your contract didn't start until 2015 but you had started to work with your recent employer from 2013 on a helping out basis, then you shouldn't mention the overlap of the apprenticeship as it doesn't add up from the dates you have put on your CV and not adding up is not good.

I don't know I've completely messed up the dates I honestly thought I had worked this all out properly but obviously not I should have just asked me old employers 

Ellis931

Ellis931 said:

AskAsk said:

Ellis931 said:

No but wat I'm saying is my apprenticeship ended in 2013 but from 2013 I was working for role 2 but I didn't have a contract until 2015 I can't say it any other way I don't understand what your not understanding 

this statement is fine, except for your additional statement that your apprenticeship overlapped with role 2 between 2013 to 2015, which is the reason why you muddled up the start date for role 2.

if it was simply because you were helping out in role 2 from 2013 to 2015 and no mention of the fact that you were doing an apprenticeship during that time, then that's fine, but this is not what you are proposing to say to HR.  you are proposing to tell HR that you were still doing your apprenticehip during 2013 to 2015, which is the overlapping bit.

if you do want to tell HR that your contract didn't start until 2015 but you had started to work with your recent employer from 2013 on a helping out basis, then you shouldn't mention the overlap of the apprenticeship as it doesn't add up from the dates you have put on your CV and not adding up is not good.

I don't know I've completely messed up the dates I honestly thought I had worked this all out properly but obviously not I should have just asked me old employers 

and I didn't mean to I genuinely thought I was being accurate with the dates 

MalMonroe

Everything is getting really messy now and I can see that some people on here are winding you up, for which I think they should apologise. They know who they are and they should know better. Please, for your own sanity, ignore them. 

My suggestion would be for you to correct your CV and then double-check it to make sure everything is correct and then email it to HR as you originally suggested, with an explanatory note. That will be better than you saying nothing and them finding out later. 

I don't really think it will be a big deal anyway but if you prove yourself to be honest from the start, it will be better for you in the long run. Sometimes if you know you've given wrong information but don't correct it, it can come back to bite you in the you know where. 

Your omission here isn't serious but it's worrying you, so you know what to do. You'll feel better, too.

Best of luck and many congratulations on your new job!

AskAsk

Ellis931 said:

Ellis931 said:

AskAsk said:

Ellis931 said:

No but wat I'm saying is my apprenticeship ended in 2013 but from 2013 I was working for role 2 but I didn't have a contract until 2015 I can't say it any other way I don't understand what your not understanding 

this statement is fine, except for your additional statement that your apprenticeship overlapped with role 2 between 2013 to 2015, which is the reason why you muddled up the start date for role 2.

if it was simply because you were helping out in role 2 from 2013 to 2015 and no mention of the fact that you were doing an apprenticeship during that time, then that's fine, but this is not what you are proposing to say to HR.  you are proposing to tell HR that you were still doing your apprenticehip during 2013 to 2015, which is the overlapping bit.

if you do want to tell HR that your contract didn't start until 2015 but you had started to work with your recent employer from 2013 on a helping out basis, then you shouldn't mention the overlap of the apprenticeship as it doesn't add up from the dates you have put on your CV and not adding up is not good.

I don't know I've completely messed up the dates I honestly thought I had worked this all out properly but obviously not I should have just asked me old employers 

and I didn't mean to I genuinely thought I was being accurate with the dates 

i believe you have messed up the dates for the apprenticehip if you remember that you were doing that while you were helping out in role 2 before you were formally employed by them.

i would suggest you state in your confirmation letter that you would like to clarify that your start date for role 2 started formally in 2015 but you had started to help out with filing and answering the phone for the company from 2013 on an informal basis, from which they offered you formal employment in 2015.

you could also state that the dates for the apprenticeship are what you remember them to be as you no longer have any correspondence on their exact dates.

Ellis931

MalMonroe said:

Everything is getting really messy now and I can see that some people on here are winding you up, for which I think they should apologise. They know who they are and they should know better. Please, for your own sanity, ignore them. 

My suggestion would be for you to correct your CV and then double-check it to make sure everything is correct and then email it to HR as you originally suggested, with an explanatory note. That will be better than you saying nothing and them finding out later. 

I don't really think it will be a big deal anyway but if you prove yourself to be honest from the start, it will be better for you in the long run. Sometimes if you know you've given wrong information but don't correct it, it can come back to bite you in the you know where. 

Your omission here isn't serious but it's worrying you, so you know what to do. You'll feel better, too.

Best of luck and many congratulations on your new job!

Thank you I think what I'm going to do is try to get hold of my boss that I did the apprenticeship with and just confirm the correct dates and then just put a note on the forms explaining this. And yes I have been really upset by this I was made redundant due to corona I have a mortgage to pay and bills and I really don't want to loose this job. Thank you x 

Manxman_in_exile

Ellis931 - sorry but you really aren't helping yourself by giving a very confusing and contradictory account.

I think you are saying that you put on your CV that you were an accountancy apprentice with employer A from 2011 to 2013, and that you then had an administrator role with employer B from 2013 to present, following on immediately after your apprenticeship with A ended.

You have now realised that that was wrong, and that your employment with B actually started in 2015, not 2013.  Between 2013 (when your apprenticeship with A ended) and starting formal employment with B two years later, you "helped out" at B with various admin tasks in some kind of unpaid/voluntary/supernumerary/intern basis.  Is that correct?

If what I have said above is correct, then I think I might be inclined to tell your new employer that whilst reviewing your CV you have realised that the start date on your CV for employer B might be misleading, because for the two years after your apprenticeship ending in 2013 you were working for B on an unpaid/voluntary(???) basis, and only started substantive full time employment with B two years later in 2015.  I'd simply explain that because it was over five years ago and because employer A and B were based in the same building, you forgot that the first two years with B were not substantive employment.

But what I find confusing about your account is that a couple of bits make no sense.  In one post you imply an "overlap" and in fact say that you had been helping out at B while you were still doing the apprenticeship at A.  But later you say there was no overlap, implying that you had completed the apprenticeship before starting to "help out" at B.  (Apologies if I've misunderstood that, but your account is very confused).

If you raise this issue about the error on your CV, you may very well be asked to explain in some detail what actually happened.  You may well be asked about the "overlap" I refer to in the paragraph above.

Also, and your new employer might ask this too - if your "helping out" at B did not overlap with your apprenticeship at A, what did your helping out at B consist of, what on earth were you doing for two years?  Were you unpaid?  Were you helping out 35 hours per week or just one hour per day?  Was it just work experience?  You were "helping out" for two years without a contract of employment?

I can think of all manner of reasons why any competent HR dept would want to know the answers to those questions - because your situation is very unusual.

But none of that means this problem is insurmountable.  You just need to be able to provide answers to the questions you may be asked.  The problem at the moment is that your attempts to explain what has happened are confused and just raise more questions.  But to be honest, the best and true answer may just be "Well, all this was between five and seven years ago, it was my first proper job and I simply got confused over the dates".  It happens.  (See my third paragraph above).

Manxman_in_exile

MalMonroe said:

My suggestion would be for you to correct your CV and then double-check it to make sure everything is correct and then email it to HR as you originally suggested, with an explanatory note. That will be better than you saying nothing and them finding out later. 

I don't really think it will be a big deal anyway but if you prove yourself to be honest from the start, it will be better for you in the long run. Sometimes if you know you've given wrong information but don't correct it, it can come back to bite you in the you know where.

I don't usually agree with you but I think that's quite good advice.  I would base my explanatory note on the italicised paragraph I put in the post above and "it was my first proper job blah blah... A and B were in the same building ... I helped out at B before starting substantive employment with them... it was seven years ago... I got confused... I forgot blah blah"

Hopefully the new employer will just accept it as one of those things and not ask any awkward questions as a result.

AskAsk

Manxman_in_exile said:

Ellis931 - sorry but you really aren't helping yourself by giving a very confusing and contradictory account.

I think you are saying that you put on your CV that you were an accountancy apprentice with employer A from 2011 to 2013, and that you then had an administrator role with employer B from 2013 to present, following on immediately after your apprenticeship with A ended.

You have now realised that that was wrong, and that your employment with B actually started in 2015, not 2013.  Between 2013 (when your apprenticeship with A ended) and starting formal employment with B two years later, you "helped out" at B with various admin tasks in some kind of unpaid/voluntary/supernumerary/intern basis.  Is that correct?

If what I have said above is correct, then I think I might be inclined to tell your new employer that whilst reviewing your CV you have realised that the start date on your CV for employer B might be misleading, because for the two years after your apprenticeship ending in 2013 you were working for B on an unpaid/voluntary(???) basis, and only started substantive full time employment with B two years later in 2015.  I'd simply explain that because it was over five years ago and because employer A and B were based in the same building, you forgot that the first two years with B were not substantive employment.

But what I find confusing about your account is that a couple of bits make no sense.  In one post you imply an "overlap" and in fact say that you had been helping out at B while you were still doing the apprenticeship at A.  But later you say there was no overlap, implying that you had completed the apprenticeship before starting to "help out" at B.  (Apologies if I've misunderstood that, but your account is very confused).

If you raise this issue about the error on your CV, you may very well be asked to explain in some detail what actually happened.  You may well be asked about the "overlap" I refer to in the paragraph above.

Also, and your new employer might ask this too - if your "helping out" at B did not overlap with your apprenticeship at A, what did your helping out at B consist of, what on earth were you doing for two years?  Were you unpaid?  Were you helping out 35 hours per week or just one hour per day?  Was it just work experience?  You were "helping out" for two years without a contract of employment?

I can think of all manner of reasons why any competent HR dept would want to know the answers to those questions - because your situation is very unusual.

But none of that means this problem is insurmountable.  You just need to be able to provide answers to the questions you may be asked.  The problem at the moment is that your attempts to explain what has happened are confused and just raise more questions.  But to be honest, the best and true answer may just be "Well, all this was between five and seven years ago, it was my first proper job and I simply got confused over the dates".  It happens.  (See my third paragraph above).

this was why i was asking the OP for clarification about the dates as they do not seem to match up with the OP's statement about the overlap of working for both companies (apprenticeship with company 1 and helping out with company 2) in the same building.

if the OP tells HR that the dates are wrong then they will look at the dates again in detail and they will ask why the OP states there is an overlap while the OP was working in the same building but the dates show no overlap.

people lie on their CVs, it is pretty common.  They cover up gaps in activity because they do not want to disclose what they were doing during that break, like they were long term unemployed, long term sick, worked for an employer but was sacked so didn't want to highlight that etc.  Pretend to have more experience in years in a particular field than they really have by extending their employment dates with an employer.

I am not saying this is what the OP is doing, but this is the sort of thing that HR would be looking for on CVs, and when the OP tells them the date is wrong, it may start them asking questions and if the OP doesn't have a clear answer in advance, it will make things look very muddled and complicated, when it doesn't have to be.

I think what has happened is that the OP has remembered the apprenticeship dates incorrectly as the OP states it is based on memory and from the OP's description, it has to be wrong if the OP remembers doing the apprenticeship and helping out in the same building.

The OP states that they will try to get hold of the accurate dates for the apprenticeship so if that is available, it would make more sense as the existing dates on the CV makes very little sense.

Ellis931

I think I've just confused myself on here what I need to do it double check my dates and I will just have to say I made a genuine mistake didn't mean too this whole thread is confusing I know what I mean its just not comin over clearly 

Ellis931

Manxman_in_exile said:

Ellis931 - sorry but you really aren't helping yourself by giving a very confusing and contradictory account.

I think you are saying that you put on your CV that you were an accountancy apprentice with employer A from 2011 to 2013, and that you then had an administrator role with employer B from 2013 to present, following on immediately after your apprenticeship with A ended.

You have now realised that that was wrong, and that your employment with B actually started in 2015, not 2013.  Between 2013 (when your apprenticeship with A ended) and starting formal employment with B two years later, you "helped out" at B with various admin tasks in some kind of unpaid/voluntary/supernumerary/intern basis.  Is that correct?

If what I have said above is correct, then I think I might be inclined to tell your new employer that whilst reviewing your CV you have realised that the start date on your CV for employer B might be misleading, because for the two years after your apprenticeship ending in 2013 you were working for B on an unpaid/voluntary(???) basis, and only started substantive full time employment with B two years later in 2015.  I'd simply explain that because it was over five years ago and because employer A and B were based in the same building, you forgot that the first two years with B were not substantive employment.

But what I find confusing about your account is that a couple of bits make no sense.  In one post you imply an "overlap" and in fact say that you had been helping out at B while you were still doing the apprenticeship at A.  But later you say there was no overlap, implying that you had completed the apprenticeship before starting to "help out" at B.  (Apologies if I've misunderstood that, but your account is very confused).

If you raise this issue about the error on your CV, you may very well be asked to explain in some detail what actually happened.  You may well be asked about the "overlap" I refer to in the paragraph above.

Also, and your new employer might ask this too - if your "helping out" at B did not overlap with your apprenticeship at A, what did your helping out at B consist of, what on earth were you doing for two years?  Were you unpaid?  Were you helping out 35 hours per week or just one hour per day?  Was it just work experience?  You were "helping out" for two years without a contract of employment?

I can think of all manner of reasons why any competent HR dept would want to know the answers to those questions - because your situation is very unusual.

But none of that means this problem is insurmountable.  You just need to be able to provide answers to the questions you may be asked.  The problem at the moment is that your attempts to explain what has happened are confused and just raise more questions.  But to be honest, the best and true answer may just be "Well, all this was between five and seven years ago, it was my first proper job and I simply got confused over the dates".  It happens.  (See my third paragraph above).

Firstly I didn't say there was no over lap that's the whole thing 

I was getting a paid but i didn't have contract given to me until 2015 I don't get what is so confusing I'm just leaving it now I will email them tomorrow thanks for your help