19 Funny Times People Lied on Their Resume and Got the Job

‘My grandfather lied about being a nuclear specialist’
19 Funny Times People Lied on Their Resume and Got the Job

In most cases, fibbing on your resume is totally fine. In this day and age especially, you likely can watch enough YouTube tutorials to get you through whatever it is you allege to know, and none of the higher-ups will ever catch wind of your gap in knowledge. These Redditors can attest to that fact, as they’ve shared numerous tales spanning generations where lying to get a job worked out perfectly. 

So if you need a little push to apply for that position you’re not qualified for, just channel the energy of the Redditor’s grandfather who said he was a nuclear specialist. If he can lie, so can you. Godspeed!

2y I got away with it! I was desperate for work after grad school, and lied about my skills in Salesforce (CRM software), when asked about it at the interview. I'd never even heard of it before! I claimed I've used it plenty, and the interviewer kept asking one question after another about Salesforce and I was so desperate, and also so embarrassed about lying, that my only choice was to lie even further to cover up the original lies. So by the end of the interview, I had dug myself into a hole of lies so deep, the
ChillinthesnOw . 5y I once lied saying I lived in the city I was applying for as they wouldn't hire outside and had a 2hr commute each way. Had to get creative on excuses why I could go for after work drinks. Only lasted 3 months before I got fed up and reluctantly moved. Been 6 years now and I love living in here. (Job lasted 2 years then I upgraded) ... 7
lotus_eater123 0 2y Not me, but my Dad when he was drafted for WWII. They asked if he could touch type, he said yes. I don't think he had even seen a typewriter. But they put him in intelligence because of his answer and no one ever questioned his typing skills. ... 3.2k
SixxTheSandman . 2y My very first job in finance was as a Data entry clerk for a mortgage lender. They asked if I could type 70+ wpm, I lied and said I could. I really could type about 25 wpm. When I got the offer, I spent everyday till my hire date practicing the shit outta my typing speed. Got up to about 50 wpm, which was enough to overlook my first two weeks of the job. By the time I got promoted to underwriting a year later, could easily type 80+wpm, and knew 10 key by touch. ... 3.8k
spicytacocat. 4y My grandfather lied about being a nuclear specialist in the Air Force to get a job at a civilian reactor. Не was actually a radar tech. Не worked there for 14 years and it never melted down so I guess it worked out just fine. ... 2.9k
soomuchcoffee . 8y I did a phone interview at a company I'd interned at. One of the VPs wanted to know what my writing experience was like. I told her not to worry, I had worked for the college newspaper for two years! She offered me a job the next day. I managed the advertisements and never submitted anything to be published. It was a friggen sales job anyway, get out of here with that shit question. ... 5.3k
mtgmike . 2y College buddy left after four years or so. Couple years later we are hanging out and he is a energy commodity analyst. Wtf? Lied and said he had a mathematics degree. They never checked, he did well. Couple years later he gets a huge promotion to switch to another company. Tells the truth that time. They hire on the condition he finishes his degree. They got busy, told him to drop out. Не is now a с level executive of a smaller energy logistics company. ... 2.1k
NeedsMoreTuba . 2y I got an insultingly small raise for speaking a 2nd language, and since none of my bosses spoke Spanish, they never figured out that my skill level was comparable to that of a toddler. All of our Hispanic customers found it adorable. ... 6.1k
Stanford1690 . 8y According to my resume, I worked as a zumba instructor for a summer. I thought it would be a harmless, interesting detail until I was asked to dance over a Skype interview. ... 164
WhiskeyDickens 4y Not me, but a friend named Mike who's a teacher. Mike was struggling to find a teaching job in his school board, so he convinced a successful teacher friend of his to help with Mike's resume. His successful friend forwarded a copy of his resume to Mike, with the intention that Mike could use the formatting, and learn the kind of teacher-speak that he used to get a job. Well, Mike simply changes the name at the top of the resume to his own, and saves the file. Не ends up getting a ton of interviews because successful
. 2y I said I was proficient in software I had never used before. When I got asked for an interview, I learned enough to BS my way through. When I got the job, I spent the next two weeks learning the shit out of that software. 6 years of using it all day every day, and training other people how to use it, I'd say I did pretty good. ... 2.3k
rendragmuab . 1 2y I worked on an assembly line making oilfield tools, told them I had oilfield experience. Got sent to an offshore oil rig a few months later. Turns out your just picking up heavy shit and getting picked on for the first few months anyways. ... 4.1k
HeyGFY 2y I applied for a job as a truck driver. The only experience I had was in a vehicle the size of a small U-Haul, delivering for a Vietnam veterans fundraising organization. Almost 18 years later, I'm still behind the wheel for the same company, and I've gotten my commercial driver's license. ... 187
0 4y I put a trivial lie on my resume. I took guitar lessons for 2-3 years, starting when I was like 6 years old. When interviewing for my current job in 1997, I had on my resume that I played guitar. I hadn't actually played guitar in over 15 years. One guy that interviewed me was very much into guitar and started asking me questions about it. I worked very hard to change the subject, which thankfully he went with. ... 3k
4y A couple years ago, I was filling out a resume for a lab tech job on some job board. It had a pop up that required you to answer some questions before sending the application, basic stuff like Are you at least 18, etc. It was pretty obviously a questionnaire to root unqualified candidates out before the resume was looked at by a human. The last question was, Do you have prior experience in chemistry? I didn't, but checked the box anyway. I figured it was the only way to get a human being to look at my
karlverkade 2y Well, I wanted to be a photographer, but didn't have any people I could shoot. I was in a new town, knew nobody, and had zero experience. So I put out ads for free engagement photos from a professional photographer who was switching fields. I figured, what could the harm be if it was free...if they hated the photos, they could just pay someone for a real session. So I actually get a couple to respond, I show up to the shoot, and they're BOTH drop dead gorgeous. And I realize I'll never get another chance like this
4y Told her I was fluent in german. It wasn't even relevant to the job nor the whole interview, but she told me that being fluent in english wasn't impressive anymore nowadays (her english was pretty bad, ironically). So I told her that, took her by surprise for a bit before asking me to describe my day in german. So i recited Rammstein lyrics (from Reise Reise, my favorite song of theirs) confidently. I got the job. I was so glad that a) she didn't check the correct translation, and b) she never asked for more demonstrations all throughout
ToothbrushGames . 2y Not me, but a guy I've worked with on occasion had gone to school to become an architect. There was a prestigious firm that he really wanted to work for but they kept rejecting him. Still, he didn't stop applying and one day they said they had an opening but it wasn't for architecture, rather wayfinding (like designing directional signage etc. for facilities or even cities), and they asked if he had experience doing this. Не lied and said yes and got the job. Now the guy is in his 70s, about to retire, and is super
MamaCZond . 2y My uncle did this. Showed up for a mass interview. They said they would call people they wanted after. Не didn't get a call, but found out where people were supposed to go the first day. Не just showed up! I think when he was asked, he just told them that he had been told to come, even though his name wasn't on the list. Не retired from that company about 45yrs later. ... 1.7k

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