Contractors, Liars and Fake CV's

[EternalOptimist]

It was round the back smoking a fag, the naughty little minx, so he never did find out.

heh heh

I like you

[TheFaQQer]

if it is a niche skill being recruited and nobody in the office has any knowledge how is a blagger to be unmasked?

Good point - I used to do niche stuff and quite often was told at interview "well, there's no point in asking you about XYZ because you know all about it, and we know nothing".

Kerching!

[Bumfluff]

I understand, and I don't want to cause any problems. I just wanted to ask the question.

Many thanks for the replies.

I also always wondered why anyone would pretend to be something else when a successful contractor in finance working in London. My background is physics but I don't think I could get my head around some of the things required in that profession. I would be proud of it!

I think the answer to your question is telling somone you work in finance as a contractor doesn't sound very exciting and he probably justed wanted to appear more exciting to you, no disrepect to him but you looked out of his league in the Metro wedding picture. As a contractor in finance myself and working in the city if anyone asks what I do I just tell them work in a bank and thats it I play it down more than anything, contractor in finance = boring guy.

As for checking CV's I must admit I was supprised when I read it in the Metro that he was still able to find work, alot of the banks do do more detail checks on candidates even to the point of googling there name etc, looking for news items I know 3 banks who do.

[nomadd]

It seems to me that for contractors there is no effort to check the veracity of a CV or to verify qualifications, and the merit of the person is assessed upon employment.

Then clearly you have never worked for an Investment Bank - or at least not recently.

I have just finished a week of long, gruelling interviews with one investment bank, where every technical aspect of my cv was scrutinised. They wanted to make sure that my skills matched exactly what was on my cv. Fortunately for me, they do.

The second set of interviews - another Investment Bank - didn't go into as much detail, but they still spent 1.5 hours doing a technical/personal assessment/interview.

I've accepted the second of the two offers. Since acceptance, I've had to agree to 5 years worth of background checks. I've supplied references that go back over 10 years. I've read and signed approximately 15 documents over the last week covering every aspect of my credit history, criminal record, finances, etc. All of this is being checked by an external agency before I can start.

<aside>
The only thing I don't do on my cv is leave "gaps" between jobs - having got my fingers burnt at an interview over 10 years ago (i.e. a daft permie spent the entire interview trying to understand how I could have taken a 6 week break from work - even though it was over 3 years prior to the interview!) This time around, I 'fessed up to the agency about the year I took off in 2006; I'm a contractor, that's the way I work and play, and I take breaks off between jobs. Like it or lump it. Now, because I don't mention those breaks on my cv, does that make me a criminal? Not in my mind - as long as my cv states where I've worked and exactly what I did. This is an interesting topic that has been debated many times on the forum.
</aside>

So no, there are certain jobs you cannot "blag" your way into - even as a contractor.

Cheers,

Nomadd

Ps. Having read all of this thread I'm astonished the mods didn't kill it dead at the start. Far too personal for an open Internet forum, IMHO. Of course, others may disagree.

[helen]

I found some delightful irony in the current state of the economy and that he has worked extensively in mortgage risk.

[George Parr]

Helen, sorry - the penny hadn't dropped when I posted earlier.

I sincerely hope all works out well for you in the future. Take care and do bear in mind that we're not all scumbags.

For what its worth I don't lie on my CV - perhaps that is why I'm still benched.

[TheFaQQer]

I found some delightful irony in the current state of the economy and that he has worked extensively in mortgage risk.

[SuperZ]

Interesting thread.
Glad to see you`re moving on with your life Helen and sorry to see you fell for this guy and even married.
I struggle to see how people just don`t see through the lies sooner, but it happens.

Interesting to see you may work with the Met Office although you have not answered the question (wise not to).


Good luck.

[zeitghost]

"Hello,
I'm Menelaus' ex-wife, and wanted to post a genuine question to the people of these boards. I've watched him now and then over the last two years, as he procured job after job often with stretched or even on occasion a faked CV - which I would add is a criminal offence -"


Can you point to a website that states that?
Is there a book that says that?
What statuate does that come under?
Is there case law and what is the case?

"Obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception"?

That springs to mind as what some of these Walter Mitty types have been done for in earlier times.

[HairyArsedBloke]

I've had to agree to 5 years worth of background checks. I've supplied references that go back over 10 years. I've read and signed approximately 15 documents over the last week covering every aspect of my credit history, criminal record, finances, etc. All of this is being checked by an external agency before I can start.

It's a good job that I don't have to go through all this anymore - I'd never stand a chance.