Fake Resume

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Creating Airtight References

How Reference Checks Are Conducted

As many as one-third of all resume writers exaggerate their accomplishments, while up to 10 percent "seriously misrepresent" their background or work histories.

Surveys by Edward Andler, author of "The Complete Reference Checking Handbook"

You must plan on each of your references being contacted by your prospective employer. In order to be more convincing you should include at least one former supervisor, one peer, and one customer or client. Make sure you know EXACTLY what each reference will say during the call. You can’t afford to be blind-sided by them saying something you weren’t prepared for.  If you can’t find people willing to lie on your behalf, then at least call each reference you have listed yourself to find out what is being said about you. At the end of each call, ask the reference to recommend someone else to contact. You can’t afford to let any “wild card” references to be thrown into the mix.  Again, you must cover ALL angles.  When performing your own reference checks, avoid asking questions that require a yes or no answer. Open-ended questions such as the following will reveal patterns in how your performance is being rated:

• What level of management is the candidate capable of attaining?
• Which professional and personal skills will the candidate need for your position?
• What are the candidate’s management style, strengths and weaknesses?
• What is the candidate's reputation with his or her superiors, peers, subordinates and clients?
• Does the candidate communicate well both orally and in writing?
• What are the candidate’s problem solving, planning and implementation skills?
• What is a fair description of the candidates’ work ethic?
• How will the candidate handle the transition to a new job, company, or location?
• How does the candidate perform under stress?

What do HR people look for?

Legally HR can only ask a few basic things:

1.  Confirmation of employment: “Yes, he worked for us.”

2.  Dates of Employment: He worked for us from (start date) to (end date)

3. The job title of the most recent position held.

4.  Would you rehire this person? If they answer no- you’re done! 

Due to the oppressive legal environment in which we live, this is where most references will end. There’s one more bit of information an astute caller may request however – your rehire status. Did you leave the firm on good terms – positive enough that they would consider hiring you back at some point in the future? About half of the firms we interviewed said they would cooperate and provide this additional piece of information. Given the inability of the caller to get the full story if the rehire status comes back negative, he’ll understandably assume the worst. As a result, a negative rehire status is therefore the proverbial "kiss of death". This explains why it’s so important to confirm your rehire status before you leave an employer.

Since anyone interested in hiring you can and will be able to obtain your dates of employment and job title, this leaves a great deal of room for exaggeration or, if necessary, even outright fabrication. The specific job duties or responsibilities can be rather freely expanded as can your former salary. You might also get away with some minor extension of the period of employment should you wish to cover up a gap in your employment history.

If you’re not sure exactly how one of your former employers will respond to a reference call – call them yourself! Pose as a hiring manager, and ask for a reference on yourself and see what they say. Whatever they say, probe them and ask for more information. If they sing your praises or at least give you the standard positive reference, you’re all set. Nevertheless should they say anything that is at all negative, promptly write the personnel director a personal letter. Say that you were disappointed to learn that they had given out a slanderous reference that recently cost you a lucrative position. State openly that you’re consulting with legal counsel and infer that any further negative comments will result in immediate legal action. It’s standard procedure in most personnel departments to place a copy of such a letter right on top of your file so that anyone pulling the file in the future will immediately be confronted with your letter and will be forced to avoid any negative comments.

In addition, less background checking is being done. Corporations are now required by federal law to use exactly the same background checks on all applicants. (In the past, it was common practice to unfairly scrutinize minority applicants) Checking all applicants is rather expensive these days hence the overall reduction in investigations.

Every company I interviewed reported that, according to well-established written rules, they are required to perform mandatory employment reference checks on every single applicant. However, when I discussed the subject with a dozen hiring managers in a bar after a few drinks, an entirely different story emerged. Every one of them admitted that checks are often either skipped or only partially completed. Today’s managers live in a very rushed environment so many managers simply can’t find the time to place the repeated phone calls and mail out the reference requests. They also know that should they make a mistake during a check it could get them into hot water so they’re more than a little intimidated. Then, there’s that certain macho attitude that they, and they alone, can confidently extract the best employee from a crowd by "gut feel" because they’re such a "good judge of character" and so have no need for further data. Several managers with extensive hiring experience admitted that they had yet to perform their first reference check! Just be aware that for whatever reason, many checks are never made.

If you chose to include career accomplishments on your resume, they must be specific. Vague or inexact accomplishments are worthless and will certainly lead to a detailed discussion. Be careful with accomplishments, as you must be prepared to answer detailed questions.

Should you indicate that your last employer is a firm right down the road, it’s very likely that a prospective employer will go ahead with a check. But by simply listing a firm in another state, you somewhat reduce the odds that a prospective employer will either actually go ahead with the check or get the reference check back (via mail) in time to be used in making a decision regarding a job offer.

If you provide a slightly altered address for your former employer, the mail may go astray. If the address is a PO Box, simply switch two digits of the PO Box number. Otherwise, you might try incorrectly abbreviating the town name and switching two digits of the zip code. This may only serve to delay the arrival of a reference letter, but there’s always the chance that they won’t even bother to follow up with a second attempt.

Dates
Background checks easily confirm your first and last date worked, as well as your position, your salary and even your bonus.

Responsibilities
Were you really a manager? Did you coordinate research projects, or just participate in them? Fact-checkers will know. 

Education
Education verification agencies can confirm within minutes your college, degree, grade-point average and even attendance.

Additional Activities
A simple phone call or Web search can easily confirm whether an organization exists, and whether you "volunteered" there.

The most common lies were claiming false degrees, honorariums and disguising periods between jobs by stretching the dates. "It's hard to believe in this day and age when people can verify information on you in seconds that people still do it," said one HR Manager I spoke with. "And it's equally hard to believe in this day and age that employers don't use resources readily available to screen applicants more carefully."

After a hire, most employers won't have the time to look through resumes to do reference checks all over again. Such a review might be triggered if an employee isn't working up to the level the resume suggests.

I f you're eager to write a great resume, and cover letter to help you ace the job interview and get the job click here! 

How do HR Managers Check the Truth in your Resume?

A survey by the New York Times Job Market research team identified the following techniques used by hiring managers to verify job candidates' claims made on their resumes:

Using  Mail-Drops and PO Boxes for Reference Checks
Another way to create nearly uncheckable references from large  companies is to use mail drop—such as a rental box at a Mail Boxes Etc.—that accepts mail addressed to massive organizations. AT&T is a favorite because it is so large, decentralized, and hard to track down. A cheat gives a recruiter the mail drop and the name and number of a fictitious supervisor. If the recruiter calls the given reference, a "secretary" he’s set up (a friend who can act on the phone) says the company’s policy is to respond by letter only. Mail sent to the fictitious supervisor is forwarded to the cheater, who then writes his own recommendation. People believe paper documentation. The Society for Human Resource Management study found that only 30 percent of all people hiring verify the authenticity of references in letters provided by candidates.

“The interviewing process is to determine whether what is on the CV is attributable to the individual, or whether it is attributable to the team or to the company which they worked for.” In other words, the interview should separate the “we” from the “I” comments

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