Should I put my fudged resume on LinkedIn?

skdfjdskf5 · July 2020

I got laid off last week after months of speculation. My former company is having hard times because of the pandemic. I’ve been looking for months, so I could beat them to laying me off. Sadly I haven’t had any response to any of the jobs I applied to since April. I live in Southern California, and the job market here sucks because of the pandemic.

I am not on LinkedIn because I don’t like having my name out there (my name is very uncommon), and because I’ve had to lie on my resume to get my past job. My real job history looks like Swiss cheese. I have so many contract assignments that only lasted about six months each, and several gaps. The Great Recession hit me really hard.

I couldn’t get a job because so many potential employers didn’t like how none of my contract assignments never went fulltime, and all of the gaps in my resume. So I made my resume linear by removing all of the gaps, and changing my job titles, and what I did at each job. Then I was able to get my last job. I never posted my resume on LinkedIn, because it’s one thing to lie on my resume and hand it to a few people. Verses putting it out there on the public internet.

Am I just being too paranoid about my fudged resume on LinkedIn?

matt333 · July 2020

I thought employers check your previous employment history as part of the background check. The truth will come out eventually. That being said definitely get on Linkedin, with your real information and start applying.

My last few positions have all been from recruiters from Linkedin. It's a very popular platform.

skdfjdskf5 · July 2020

I've never had a company check my history (at least to my knowledge) or even check my references.

cyberguypr · July 2020

Lying is a dangerous approach. At some point you will come through people who will uncover the truth. Precisely today I interviewed a guy who absolutely lied on his resume. My team was able to remove the veil quickly and it wasn't a pleasant experience for him.

Danielm7 · July 2020

I've absolutely had companies check past workplaces as part of a background check. Without knowing what level of job you have, can you just put your last job up on linkedin or is that super short as well?

stryder144 · July 2020

I've been contacted several times as a reference.

DatabaseHead · July 2020

I'm not keen on the lie, it stays with you throughout your career. I'd rather focus on other methods of making yourself more employable. Networking on LinkedIn in groups and directly to other people might be a better method. Of course not just LI but other groups that make sense for your particular field.

Like others have mentioned I have had employers reach out all the time, contract or FTE positions.

Azazello · July 2020

skdfjdskf5 said:

I got laid off last week after months of speculation. My former company is having hard times because of the pandemic. I’ve been looking for months, so I could beat them to laying me off. Sadly I haven’t had any response to any of the jobs I applied to since April. I live in Southern California, and the job market here sucks because of the pandemic.
I am not on LinkedIn because I don’t like having my name out there (my name is very uncommon), and because I’ve had to lie on my resume to get my past job. My real job history looks like Swiss cheese. I have so many contract assignments that only lasted about six months each, and several gaps. The Great Recession hit me really hard.
I couldn’t get a job because so many potential employers didn’t like how none of my contract assignments never went fulltime, and all of the gaps in my resume. So I made my resume linear by removing all of the gaps, and changing my job titles, and what I did at each job. Then I was able to get my last job. I never posted my resume on LinkedIn, because it’s one thing to lie on my resume and hand it to a few people. Verses putting it out there on the public internet.
Am I just being too paranoid about my fudged resume on LinkedIn?

Your work history is nothing to be ashamed about. Plenty of consultants have a similar situation. The problem is not with you - it's with HR; worse, recruiters.

{Nick Corcodilos stresses this so much in his 'Ask The Headhunter' articles}

All of us--especially yourself--agree that you shouldn't have to lie on your resume. The bigger challenge is how to get LinkedIn to work for you, not against.

First, you do not have to put or upload your resume to LI.

I have not (and now with their new owner, never will).

You can make a barebone profile, and put just your most-recent work experience, with as much or little details as you like - and leave it at that.

Do edit your experience such that it has relevant keywords that recruiters can search on for the new type of role that you want. You can ask on these forums for suggestions on this.

This does NOT need to exactly match what's on your resume. Remember, LinkedIn is a marketing tool, not a resume service - and not a legal service. So you want the publicly-viewable (and -searchable) info to promote yourself as YOU want.

LI has several security features you want to enable - consider these for PUBLIC viewing:

Turn OFF the option that allows your connections to get notified of your edits & updates on your profile. Do this before anything. This way, you can update as needed w/o others being notified of changes.

'Edit Profile' allows to show/hide sections of your profile. e.g. I show publicly just my most-recent experience, education, training, LI groups - that's it; within LI site, only my direct connections can see my other experience.

There's an option to show your fullname, or first-initial lastname.

For your concern about your unique name, use this trick: reverse your name in your profile -- instead of 'Joeschmo skdfjdskf5',

use 'skdfjdskf5 Joeschmo'; then turn on the option to publicly show it as 'S. Joeschmo'

I do highly recommend BLOCKING people on LI that you never want to see your profile or request connecting with you. Not just for personal piece-of-mind, but also to thwart creepy, pervert previous co-workers & managers coming to view your status. (LI allows members to view profiles without always showing their full- or any name.)

Do NOT agree to direct connect with recruiters (or anyone you don't know or like). They do this just to see the other details on your profile for free, without having to pay LI's fee for their recruiter service. Instead, tell them to contact you via email, and share whichever version of your resume you're willing to share.

Good Luck if you do make a LI profile. Let us know if we can help develop it to be more attractive to potential employers/recruiters.

LonerVamp · July 2020

I would say don't lie. What you described as a job history is not all that uncommon. It's OK to have gaps. It's OK to have been hit by the Recession. And lots of people have been impacted through COVID19 issues. Be honest and up front.

It's common for someone going through the Contractor process to have lots of shorter gigs. (This is why I hate when people blindly say 1 page resumes...they've clearly never had many short gigs!)

I would strongly try to minimize or not bring up voluntarily that those were contractor-to-full time positions that they opted not to continue. I'd just say those were 6-month contracts and they came due.

If someone wants to make inferences into your short gigs, that's on them. But don't set the stage for them to make negative inferences.

As far as LinkedIn, by the time you hand out your resume or sign up for an interview, they will Google you anyway. May as well put your LinkedIn resume out there, and correct any lying you've done up front. Also, you don't have to put everything on LinkedIn.

All that said, I wouldn't lie. That will catch up to you.

Fulcrum45 · July 2020

I agree with everyone here- not worth it. Ethics aside- I understand things are seeming desperate at the moment. But even if you were to land a position with a fudged resume, there's a good chance you could get found out and lose the spot anyway. The sooner you clean your resume the less you'll have to worry about this.

jasper_zanjani · August 2020

Nothing so terrifies an IT hiring manager as the thought he hired someone who misrepresented what he knew, and they love to spring traps in the form of "technical interviews" to catch someone with their pants down. I rather think this is an outgrowth of an older generation's obsession with work experience. But until hiring managers of a less autistic mindset replace this generation, we are stuck with their prejudices.

I would say if you actually have the technical knowledge to get past the real gatekeepers in an in-person interview and to excel in the position, I see nothing wrong with fudging the numbers a bit so that the first-line recruiter will be able to say you check 8/10 of the boxes rather than 6 or 4. Let's be honest, we have all seen some pretty ridiculous job descriptions.

As far as your colleagues, I guarantee you none of your coworkers ever gave a good goddamn about your work history or could be relied on to recall anything about it at all in your absence, unless you were constantly harping about it.

But there is something to be said for honesty is the best policy. If you are going to come up with a cover story, it has to be convincing, and absence from the single largest social network for job hunters rather makes you look guilty. If you're going to lie, at least lie convincingly.

jasper_zanjani · August 2020

Azazello said:
Do NOT agree to direct connect with recruiters (or anyone you don't know or like). They do this just to see the other details on your profile for free, without having to pay LI's fee for their recruiter service. Instead, tell them to contact you via email, and share whichever version of your resume you're willing to share.

This is the most ridiculous, contorted social media advice I have ever heard from anyone. These are the sorts of lengths someone goes to on Instagram in order to be able to post abusive comments on celebrity accounts without having their real account blocked 😂😂 Obviously this guy can't be bothered to use LinkedIn as a way to network with recruiters who are incentivized in their own pay structure to find you a high-paying job. Please don't listen to him, unless you are that serious about privacy.

Azazello · August 2020

jasper_zanjani said:

Azazello said:
Do NOT agree to direct connect with recruiters (or anyone you don't know or like). They do this just to see the other details on your profile for free, without having to pay LI's fee for their recruiter service. Instead, tell them to contact you via email, and share whichever version of your resume you're willing to share.
This is the most ridiculous, contorted social media advice I have ever heard from anyone. These are the sorts of lengths someone goes to on Instagram in order to be able to post abusive comments on celebrity accounts without having their real account blocked 😂😂 Obviously this guy can't be bothered to use LinkedIn as a way to network with recruiters who are incentivized in their own pay structure to find you a high-paying job. Please don't listen to him, unless you are that serious about privacy.

jasper, you must be a recruiter --or perhaps one of those creepy pervs. Too bad my advice will make you pay-to-play with LinkedIn's recruiter tools. Deal with it.

As for profile privacy & security on the platform, there are plenty of LI Pulse articles that describe the same advice. I've written one myself. It's not necessary to 1st-degree connect with recruiters in order to engage with them -- if they have paid for LIRecruiter, recruiters can IM almost any members directly (and in bulk).

Making Connections on LI should be about building your own network - not someone else's.

Should I put my fudged resume on LinkedIn?

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