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I had an interview for an HR position and I lied in the interview by saying that I had worked in 2 big companies in the same position. The truth is that I did work for those companies but not in the same position as the new job I was interviewing for.

I claimed this because I really want the job and it is what I'm dreaming of. Now they have asked me to provide a certificate to prove the years of experience I have claimed. I haven't been accepted yet but they will inform me next week.

I don't know what should I do? If I tell them the truth, I'll definitely lose the job.

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    What is your question?
    – Masked Man
    Dec 31, 2016 at 9:32
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    If you don't tell them about your lie (which you say will definitely prevent you getting the job), how do you propose to give them the certificate/evidence they are asking for? Seems like you have no possible route to providing that information unless you fabricate it, which is obviously pretty unethical at best.
    – 3N1GM4
    Dec 31, 2016 at 9:55
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    Have you accepted the job yet? If you just turn them down
    – Ed Heal
    Dec 31, 2016 at 12:39
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    Additional advice: Don't post information that could be used to identify you when asking questions like this.
    – Blrfl
    Dec 31, 2016 at 14:27
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    Might be time to start considering a new career track, Could be you've burned every possible bridge in HR. Can you do anything else? Or consider emigrating. And as every answer says, stop being creative with the truth.
    – Criggie
    Jan 1, 2017 at 0:57

4 Answers 4

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What you should do: stop being a liar. You're not going to get this job, or probably any job with that company in your entire career as they'll have blacklisted you as a liar. Neither I nor anyone else care that it's your "dream job": lying on a job application is just about the worst thing you can do. You should have considered that before constructing your web of lies, not afterwards when you've been found out and it's all starting to collapse around your ears.

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You lied. That is something you should never do.

If you admit you lied, you will be out and blacklisted. If you don't send certificates, you will be out and probably blacklisted (failure to provide proof is mostly seen as "potential liar").

You could send the certificates you have and play dumb when they ask questions. If they ask questions, tell them there has been a misunderstanding in the interview and the certificates are proof of what you did before. You will probably not get the job. They might not blacklist you, depending on how sure they are about what happened in the interview.

In the future, do not lie. Lying is about the dumbest thing you could do in an interview. It will burn your chances with this company, your future chances with that company and maybe, if people talk, even your future chances with other companies, even if you are truthful with them.

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    The third paragraph is the only chance of "salvaging" anything. You can probably forget about the company for the next 5 - 10 years in the best case scenario.
    – Juha Untinen
    Dec 31, 2016 at 12:16
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As every other answer pointed out, that's a huge mistake to lie in order to get a new job. What should I do? Build a better ethic code.

Now, you should just send the certificates from the previous job, and prepare a solid argumentation as to why these jobs are similar to the one you're interviewing for. Do not tell them you lied - no matter how they find, you're done for that company if they find out.

My biggest question is the following : are you qualified for the job ? If your current qualifications and experiences are not enough to get this job, there might be a reason.

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You lie. You die. That's all there is to it.

You are finding out even as we speak that lying to get the job is pointless if lying means that you can't keep the job you got.

The pathetic part for you is that if you had told the truth, you'd have a pretty good chance at keeping the job in exchange for a small risk of not getting the job.

It looks to me that you are only sorry because you got caught. You put yourself in a no-way-out situation. If you don't produce the certificates, you don't get the job. If you produce the certificates and the certificates don't substantiate the claims you made at your interview, you don't get the job. Whether you tell the truth or not, you don't get the job. As Richard III used to say: "what a web do we weave when we practice to deceive" (*)

You did too good a job trapping yourself in your own lies - there's nothing we can do for you. Unless you can claim the experience you gained in your two jobs meets the requirements of the position you are applying for, it's "game over".

(*) Tonyk offers the following correction: the actual quote is "What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive" and it is from Sir Walter Scott's "Marmion". I would have sworn that Igor-like hunchback Richard III had something to do with that quote :)

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  • It wasn't Richard III, and that's not what he didn't say. You will now read Walter Scott's Marmion as penance.
    – TonyK
    Jan 1, 2017 at 23:30

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