lying on a CV/Interview

Downsizing__for_sanity

Totally agree with last post - selling yourself well and perhaps trying to think of times when you have used those skills as examples of how you could do the job isn't immoral - but completely inventing a job for your CV is, and is also stupid as eventually you will be caught out by someone, especially if it's in the same industry as you want to apply to.

littlelaurakate

Having been a Personnel Manager for a few years I wouldn't recommend lying about experience:
a) If your training manager/personnel department thinks you already have said experience you may miss out on valuable training and personal development...
b)If you show genuine enthusiasm and initiative (even without masses of experience) you should be recognised as a worthy candidate
c)As people have quite rightly pointed out, if you are discovered it can be a sackable offence
d)If you make up experience you may just get it questioned. Nasty, cynical people like me sometimes ring up and check further back in employment history if they feel that things don't quite 'stack up'...

Good luck

P.S. It seems a good job that you got rejected at that interview. They cannot be a very forward thinking or visionary employer if they are so short sighted about taking on enthusiatic and willing employees - obviously do not want to have to fund any training, which is never a good indication....

justpaper

littlelaurakate wrote:

P.S. It seems a good job that you got rejected at that interview. They cannot be a very forward thinking or visionary employer if they are so short sighted about taking on enthusiatic and willing employees - obviously do not want to have to fund any training, which is never a good indication....

that is what i cant believe, i guess its the ppl doing the invterviewing that dont really care ,. maybe they dont like the blue shirt a persons wearing,..hair style or something,. i really think "its not what u know but who u know" 80% of the time,.

all in all education is king

nemo183

justpaper wrote:

that is what i cant believe, i guess its the ppl doing the invterviewing that dont really care ,. maybe they dont like the blue shirt a persons wearing,..hair style or something,. i really think "its not what u know but who u know" 80% of the time,.

all in all education is king

Education is important, but so often the final choice between people is like tossing a coin - they may have 3 people who could all do the job, and it really can come down to not liking blue shirts. Certainly, you'll never know because even if you ask why you didn't get the job, they'll never (well, almost never) tell you the truth. They'll give you a logical reason, but it's unlikely to be the true reason.

Anyway, keep at it - often recruitment companies reckon on having ten people interviewed in order to make one placement, so a lot of it's a numbers game.

Best wishes, and good luck.

BWZN93

I personally see my CV as a masterpiece in Creative Writing. There are no lies on my CV, but I do make sure to tailor it for each position I apply for. I like to emphasise the 'better' skills I learned even if it was only for two weeks covering for my boss, as I have practical experience and could give examples for any recruiters who asked, all of which are true.

I wont say that my CV is a perfect representation of my daily life career wise, because IMO, my ability to use any type of fax machine ever made really isnt that important in comparison to other skills I legitimately gained, such as people management, and full responsibility over high £ values. However, I do believe that you should NEVER put on your CV a skill you dont really have, if you cant say that you can provide examples, give evidence, or at least describe it in full and with confidence.

Well, I know I can sleep at night because nothing is lied about, it is an accurate picture of my most impressive skills as well as the usual, and I personally prefer to print it on very high quality (and expensive ) cream paper, with matching envelopes! I feel like it gives an impression of the care taken, the calibre of person, and attention to detail.

Oh - and NEVER post anything without checking it several times, you dont know how many freinds ive had that screwed up this seemingly simple task, sending the wrong cover letters with the wrong CV, spelling mistakes, forgetting stamps so they had to pay for it, and the worst was probably sending an empty envelope. Oops!

jo xx

nemo183

jw1096 wrote:

I personally see my CV as a masterpiece in Creative Writing. There are no lies on my CV, but I do make sure to tailor it for each position I apply for. I like to emphasise the 'better' skills I learned even if it was only for two weeks covering for my boss, as I have practical experience and could give examples for any recruiters who asked, all of which are true.
jo xx

Yes, I agree, great advice. For anyone wishing to extract the last drop of impact from their posted CV, I'd add the following four ideas:

1) Hand write the envelope
2) Use a stamp (not the office franking machine), and a picture stamp if you have one handy.
3) Deface your envelope by getting a highlighter pen and drawing, for example, two long lines right along the bottom of the envelope, or up the side.
4) In your covering letter, always include a P.S. at the bottom, saying how much you would appreciate meeting face to face to find out more about the job.

I stress these are ways of squeezing the very most out of your application - they may appear a little odd, but they cost nothing, and there are very good reasons for each.

Savvy_Sue

nemo183 wrote:

4) In your covering letter, always include a P.S. at the bottom, saying how much you would appreciate meeting face to face to find out more about the job.

Noooooo! Well I don't think so. It suggests you didn't think carefully when you started writing or didn't do a first draft!

Do that as a 'Finally, I would appreciate the chance to meet to find out more about the job and hope I will be selected for interview.'

Another tip is that in some companies - especially small ones, NFPs etc - it MAY be possible to phone and arrange a prior informal visit. You WON'T be able to do this if they have a very strict EO policy, but where I work (small local charity), if someone says "I've seen the job advertised, I'm interested, I've heard about your work but I'd like to know a bit more about it, can I come and have a look?" we'd always be glad to see them, give them a quick tour of the building, and answer any questions. When I was helping run an out of school club I positively encouraged this - you can't easily see how a person interacts with children when they come to an interview, but you can see what they do if they drop in and are being shown around.

With our charity, we have a large number of volunteers and it's common for one or more to apply for any jobs we advertise. So allowing anyone to come and have a look evens out the playing field.

Of course you do run the risk that someone who is key to the company but not interviewing will see your pink hair and take a violent dislike to you, but even though we do 'canvas' opinions from the non-interviewing staff - we all have lunch together, all applicants and staff! - the final decision rests, quite properly, with the interviewing panel. I would say that what other staff think would tip the balance between two equal candidates, but not allow the job to be offered to someone less suitable / qualified just because someone took against the other party.

Just a thought - even if the company says 'no' to this at least you are showing keen.

nemo183

Savvy_Sue wrote:

Noooooo! Well I don't think so. It suggests you didn't think carefully when you started writing or didn't do a first draft!
.

Well, it's good to have two points of view on this. I agree with your logic, but it's also true that given a batch of letters to read, it's a proven fact that most people - heavens know why - will actually START by reading a "P.S."

I totally agree it's not logical!!!