How can employers find out if you lie on a job application about your work history?

[Lizard]

If you just left a job off your application, as if you'd never held it, how could a prospective empoloyer find out? I know the Social Security Admin. keeps a record of all employment that paid SS tax. Does anyone have access to their records? Police? Fire? Anyone?

[CookingWithGas]

Does the omission leave a gap on the employment dates on a resume? If so, the prospective employer will probably ask about that and expect to hear a good story.

Are other employment dates fudged to fill the gap? If so, watch out because the prospective employer may call past employers to verify employment. Most companies will not provide a reference but most will at least confirm dates of employment.

[Opengrave]

Mildy related... we just had a guy here that got fired for lying on his resume. He said he had a PhD from a university not far from here. Some of the little gaps in his knowledge made his superiors suspicious so they asked to see his diploma, he presented one but it didn't look quite right so they got in contact with the registrar's office who had absolutely no record of his attendence. After some questioning he admitted the diploma was fake.

[Phlosphr]

Lizard - the answer to your OP is yes, the perspective employer can find out if you worked somewhere, even if it is not on your resume.

However, if you are up front and honest with the perspective employer, you need not worry about it. For instance, you could say - if asked - that you wrote a targeted resume, where it is quite common to leave out past employers who do not attribute anything to the company you are looking to get hired at. However, if you want to omit a past employer because you did something wrong or they have a bad taste for you, then that may be a different story.

In the US of A a past employer is only allowed to give someone asking the dates you worked, and if they would rehire. Though sometimes if they have a grudge, they will say a little more.

[Early Out]

Originally posted by Phlosphr
[BIn the US of A a past employer is only allowed to give someone asking the dates you worked, and if they would rehire. Though sometimes if they have a grudge, they will say a little more. [/b]

Unless I've missed something recently, there's no law about what a past employer can or cannot say about you, when called for a reference. It's just that there have been so many lawsuits by disgruntled former employees, that most companies have become very gun-shy about providing anything beyond the most minimal information.

[Yarster]

We had a similar situation at a pharmaceutical company where I used to work as what Opengrave described. We had a guy who got hired who claimed to have a BS in Chemistry. Oddly enough, one day we went to a Red Robin restaurant (similar to Denny's) where they had a 'dessert' periodic chart and we were all trying to remember some of the more obscure elements further down the chart.

People turned to the 'Chemist' and discovered he knew VERY virtually none of the chart which struck us all as a little strange. Someone then did some checking and discovered that not only had he never gone to college but that he was also responsible for all the lab contaminations we were having (each case could be directly traced back to him). We had hired Homer Simpson, apparently.

The sad thing is, at the time, he was the ONLY black employee in this otherwise small company, so they even gave him another chance to prove he could do the job even despite the lies because they feared a discrimination law suit. He continued to screw up over and over. Dispite this extra chance, he STILL brought a discrimination suit against the company when he was eventually fired. Fortunately, he lost.

[handy]

Phlosphr, I think the OP wanted to know how they would find out. You know like word of mouth --which I have seen often.

[Dragonblink]

All I know is, if CRorex comes in here with a work-related anecdote, I'm leaving the planet on the next flight.

[Papermache Prince]

There are businesses which, for a fee, will pose as a potential employer, to obtain references and other information from your previous employer. I list this one -- Employment-reference.com -- merely to demonstrate that such businesses exist, not as an endorsement.

[DrDeth]

Cool link yr Higness.

Phlosphr is right. You could claim it was "targeted". Also, if it was less than a year, creative use of date rounding is useful.

But don't ever out & out lie. Puffery, rounding, and some creative writing is OK. Maybe spiff up your job responsibilties a bit. But no "lies".

[peterW]

I've worked at a company that does the reference checks for companies. Normally, if the employers don't want to do it themselves, they contract other companies to do background checks for them.

At the company I worked for, an employer gives us a stack of employees to screen. We then contact each school, past employer, and professional body that the potential employee has put on their resume. So if a potential employee puts down that they graduated suma cum laude from Harvard, then we contact Harvard to confirm.

The employer can also request (and normally do) a credit, litigation, and criminal check. This is make sure that there are no lawsuits or unexpected scandalous things popping up.

Of course the potential employee has to sign a waiver for all of this, or else the institutions/companies would not release the information. And since the checks can get quite pricey, these things are normally done on higher level positions.

[Rick]

Be very careful about resume inflation. I have seen people not get jobs, and be fired for streaching the truth just a little too far.
Some companies have no sense of humour

[Lizard]

Well, I'm not talking about making up things a person never did. I meant more like suituations where a person doesn't mention a job they did have. Some jobs require you to post every job you've held within the last 20 years. What if you didn't mention the one you held 5 years ago for 6 months where you got fired? How would anyone know you had ever worked for that business, if you didn't tell them?

[Rick]

The job apps I have filled out for large companies usually say something like "List all jobs held over the last 10 years. Explain any gaps over 3 months."
A 6 month gap would bring the question "What about this 6 month period here, what were you doing then?"

[Lizard]

Originally posted by Rick
The job apps I have filled out for large companies usually say something like "List all jobs held over the last 10 years. Explain any gaps over 3 months."
A 6 month gap would bring the question "What about this 6 month period here, what were you doing then?"

And if you replied "Well, I was sitting on a rock in the desert, trying to find myself," how could they prove otherwise?

[peterW]

I would think that if you don't mention it, then it would be next to impossible to find out. The current company would then need access to a record of your income at that previous company, which I think only the taxation office would have, excluding, of course, the previous place of employment.

I don't think the IRS would let anyone in the private sector find these things out. I could be wrong about this, though.

[Violet]

I can think of several scenarios where an employer or prospective employer would find out about an omitted job. Let's say you listed a friend as a character reference, and that person is contacted. In response to, "What do you know about your friend's employment history?" your friend discloses the omitted job.

If you apply for a job that requires some sort of clearance, you most likely signed an authorization allowing info. about yourself from many sources, including apartment rental companies or landlords. Sometimes your jobs are listed in places that you forget about.

[Walloon]

Originally posted by peterW
I don't think the IRS would let anyone in the private sector find these things out. I could be wrong about this, though.

For a fee, the Social Security Administration will prepare a history of your employment, and how much you earned from each employer each year. Presumably a prospective employer, especially one who requires a high security clearance, may ask you to sign a waiver to allow them to obtain such a history on you.

[peterW]

Originally posted by Walloon
For a fee, the Social Security Administration will prepare a history of your employment, and how much you earned from each employer each year. Presumably a prospective employer, especially one who requires a high security clearance, may ask you to sign a waiver to allow them to obtain such a history on you.

Very interesting. Thanks for straightening this out Walloon.

[Ferret Herder]

Originally posted by Walloon
For a fee, the Social Security Administration will prepare a history of your employment, and how much you earned from each employer each year. Presumably a prospective employer, especially one who requires a high security clearance, may ask you to sign a waiver to allow them to obtain such a history on you.

Would this work even for jobs in which you paid no Social Security? Certain government jobs do this; I know the job I worked at for the past several years, before my current position, did that. I guess I'm wondering if it keeps track of those positions. Yearly my coworkers and I would get statements from Social Security with $0 in the previous years' balances, but I wonder if they knew what job I had regardless.

[tellingthetruth]

Apparently very few people have answered your OP. Maybe there is a lack of reading comprehension here. But most employers will not go through the trouble of paying the fee at the Social Security Administration in order to see all your past employers. They only run a criminal background check, credit check and they simply call your references. I believe that is the only way they can check to see if you lied on your resume. Most people do lie on their Resume and I don't see anything wrong with it. Why? Because your employers will look you dead in the eye and lie to you with a straight face. In this economy, I say do whatever the heck you need to do to get the job. Screw all the other self-righteous BS. TAKE CARE OF YOU!

[TriPolar]

They may call any of your past employers, who will probably only confirm that you worked there. It's unlikely they will do anything except call your last job. Except for a time gap, which they may not even pick up, they aren't going to look for jobs you had but didn't list. Early in my career I only supplied years for dates of employment to cover a series of very short jobs. I've often urged potential employers/contractors to check my references for past work. Nothing works better than a good recommendation from your last employer.

Although most companies only confirm the employment dates of personnel, I understand it's common now to ask for the name of your immediate superior at those jobs so that person can be contacted directly. You could call that person ahead of time to see how they would react, if it's practical. OTOH, I and others will follow the official policy of only revealing dates of employment, but with a wink and a nod warn prospective employers about a really bad candidate.

[doreen]

It's kind of going to depend on what jobs you're talking about. If you leave off a short-term, retail/ fast food/bank teller type of job , most likely no one will ever find out - unless of course, former coworkers from that job are now working for the prospective employer. And even that probably won't happen if the job was 20 years ago.

On the other hand, the job I have now required a background check , with fingerprinting. If they didn't get info from the IRS, I'm sure they got it from the state tax department, and they didn't just call my former employer's HR dept for a reference, they actually went and interviewed my supervisors and coworkers. As a matter of fact, they even interviewed my neighbors. I probably couldn't have concealed a job from the background investigator , and was so worried about it that I told the investigator about a job I had for about 2 months 10 years prior to the investigation- even though I couldn't even remember the name of the company. I was afraid it would show up on the tax forms or an application for a previous job.

[boytyperanma]

Most frequently companies find out about employee's lying on their resume because the employee talks to much.

Yes some companies do intensive background checks and will find discrepancies in the job history but more often after hiring someone that person does or says something that conflicts with what they reported on the resume and it results in termination.

Don't lie on resumes. If you lie and they find out your entire career was started under false pretenses and their is no reason to keep someone who is willing to lie from the get go.

[Duckster]

Originally Posted by tellingthetruth

Apparently very few people have answered your OP.

It's been seven years since this thread was last written, until today. One should also be careful of the increase in zombies who will do anything to take you down, including zombie threads.

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Duckster

One should also be careful of the increase in zombies who will do anything to take you down, including zombie threads.

Indeed.

Originally Posted by tellingthetruth

But most employers will not go through the trouble of paying the fee at the Social Security Administration in order to see all your past employers.

I didn't even know the SSA offered this service. Can anyone do it, and do you happen to know how much it is?

[drachillix]

Originally Posted by boytyperanma

Most frequently companies find out about employee's lying on their resume because the employee talks to much.

I recieved a resume for an employee who claimed to be the network administrator for another place I worked during the time I worked there. There were no IT people our whole system was 8 machines running 1 program, we rarely had any real problems, I was management there, and despite the fact we worked together for 3 years (according to his resume) I had never seen him.

I had so much fun interviewing him.

[AK84]

I had oner prospective employee hem and haw about a 14 month gap. When finally pushed he admitted that he had worked at a Cinema during that time. His father had had a heart attack and he was caring for him and as it was inbetween career (he was studying to be a lawyer;part time) and there was nothing else in his home village in his original field (worked in bank), he had no real choice. Problem was, my own family has a history of heart disease, so I am a little bit familiar with some of the care protocols, so I asked him if his father was on "alpha blockers and amoxill therepy" and he answered; yes.

I would not have thought any less of him for working in a cinema, but that took the cake.

[Lacunae Matata]

Sometimes the employer finds out about the resume-fudging when the prospective employee presents a state Department of Corrections ID (instead of a drivers license or other photo id) that was issued almost a year prior to the date he said he was discharged from the military! (Even better, the ex-con claimed to have been a military policeman during his service!)

[BeaMyra]

As some of you know I work as an H/R director and lying on the resume is common. Mostly they're little white lies or misinterpretations. For instance if someone is let go on June 29th but his final paycheck arrives a week later in July, they put down they worked until July of that year.

People who lie about their education get caught less and less as they go through life. There is no way in heck I am gonna check if a 45 year old guy went to high school. If he didn't graduate but said he did, well, I'll believe him. However if a teenaged person applies, I would check it out. Mostly because they wouldn't have the work experience.

Almost always people get found out, because they call themselves out on it. For instance, they'll put a fake diploma over their desk and someone from the actual university will notice and say something.

Or they'll say they went to the University of Illinois and then forget that's what they put on their application and say they went to Acme College.

But even then it's hard to tell. There are people that will go for three or more years to one college and switch over so the final diploma says another college.

When one job hunts they have to be careful. For instance, one of my first jobs went to verify my college degree and it came up unknown. Simple reason was they switched from using a number assigned to the person's social security number. The company tried to check the school with my ss# and of course it wasn't there. When I was able to show they need another number, they found it.

This is why I stress it's important for people to know this in advance so they can provide any thing like that to potential employers.

People who lie about skills are easily called out. But really the firing for lying clause is really a convenient way out for employers.

Of course governmental employers, especially those with security clearances are totally different

[benbo1]

At least in my field, i.t., it's expected to have some 'beach time', gaps between gigs. The 1 job I got fired from (as opposed to leaving or getting downsized), I simply left that company off & put in my standard filler for the time - 'consulting, small independent projects, Access databases, queries & forms, desktop configuration, system optimization'. Naturally, I give the reason that the economy was tough, I was waiting for the right opportunity and of course got paid in cash (remember, I tell them these are small projects fro an independent contractor). I've never been told I was ever busted on omitting the one company (was there 3 months & out of work another 5) - the 'independent contractor working on small projects' label seems to satisfy them, and I know my stuff, have other good names on the resume, and can do well on interviews. My advice is don't mention the job, and on the small chance they find out simply say that it was 1 of the projects. Laws vary by state, but I would think in most they can't give u bad reference, including mentioning that u were fired - they simply would verify dates and salary. Interview with confidence & u should be fine.

[postcards]

Originally Posted by tellingthetruth

Apparently very few people have answered your OP.

I'd call nineteen replies much more than "very few".

Originally Posted by tellingthetruth

Most people do lie on their Resume and I don't see anything wrong with it. Why? Because your employers will look you dead in the eye and lie to you with a straight face.

Cite?

Originally Posted by guizot

.I didn't even know the SSA offered this service. Can anyone do it, and do you happen to know how much it is?

See post #18

[Qwakkeddup]

In the late '90s early '00s I had a supervisor who had an entire folder of diplomas, references, personal letters of recommendations. Many were printed on fancy paper stock, all from home. Some were printed straight up from some site that created them for you many were completely made up by him.
We all knew about it even management. Many of us had seen his collection.

Until we got bought out by another casino.

They made us all re-apply for our jobs. He evidently over did his glam, so they checked him out very thoroughly.

They didn't have to fire him, just let the police know where he was. I can't check the facts, but the rumor was at least 15 warrants.

[Nava]

Originally Posted by Rick

Be very careful about resume inflation. I have seen people not get jobs, and be fired for streaching the truth just a little too far.
Some companies have no sense of humour

I had this boss who didn't seem to know her head from her knees, was paranoid about giving ID to anybody, had missed the original flight (we were abroad) because her passport would have expired during her stay and she hadn't realized it...

My coworker Pablo and I got threatened with being fired for pointing out that she seemed "a bit weak" on what was supposed to be her field of expertise. We'd all been with the company for the same length of time, having been hired for that job, but hey, the assumption is that the manager is the one who's right.

We went home for vacation, then back to the office to a meeting before taking another plane to the same job. I ran into Pablo in the building's lobby and we remarked on how they could just have fired us over the phone and saved us the trip.

And then we found out that the boss had been fired. Well yeah, those ten years' experience she had? Her actual experience was 2 months. Since she knew she looked older than her age, she'd given herself 10 years - both of age and of experience. Our employers found out when two of the partners remarked, within the receptionist's hearing, that boss looked "younger than her 35". "35?", says the receptionist, "she's not 35, she's 25! She's my age! I photocopied her ID for her HR file, I noticed we're the same age. I'm a month older."

A little tweaking is one thing but, ten years' worth? And her passport hadn't been "about to expire", she didn't have one because she hadn't realized she'd need one.