Lying on CV
Hi, was wondering how far you can stretch the truth on a CV?
I did an internship which was mostly shadowing and doing a couple other tasks. Would it be okay to say I did other things during it or exaggerating the extent to which my work was used (not pushing it by saying I executed trades or spoke with clients etc)? If I just assisted on financial modelling at an internship, can I say that I built financial models?
Mainly worried about background checks. What do they ask for? Is it formal document proof of being employed during a particular time period? Or is it more in depth where they ask people where you were (although different fields and countries) about what you did exactly during the internship and for how long. My understanding is that they only ask for a person working there to verify and nothing further. Is this true?
Thanks!
You can say it, but nobody will believe you. Analysts don’t often build models, do you think an intern would? Also, if you do and they believe in it, when you hit the desk they will ask you to build a model and you won’t know how, so you’re already not meeting expectations. In this case false expectations that you set yourself.
Background checks are as much in depth as they can be. Problem is majority of companies don’t give away information that easily so they keep it to a minimum (e.g., confirm dates, position and reference most of the time).
Hi, thanks for your reseponse. I have done some modelling to an extent (3 statement to do DCF etc.). I agree this is not the real deal and nowhere near what will be done on the desk.
How should I look to mention my experience on my CV then? Quite confused as I do not want to exaggerate but also want to get interviews. Seems like a fine line.
Nothing wrong with extrapolating a bit, but make sure it’s in line with your knowledge. If you say you build a model from scratch, you should be able to answer all accounting questions without skipping a beat. If you know the basics and can walk through a DCF, link the statements and understand how things connect together, then you can say that you built the first draft of the model which was later reviewed by some team members and ultimately was used on xyz. That way you i) show that you’ve contributed to the team, ii) sets expectations that your modelling is not perfect (nor it should be at your level) and iii) during interviews stages if you get some accounting questions wrong people will probably appreciate that you were upfront and honest about your skills.
Thanks a lot. This is really helpful!
As long as you know what you're talking about during interviews. If someone asks you something specific about your CV / experiences and you're just talking nonsense they will know immediately.
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