Panicked and lied on an interview, Help!
I am interviewing with a fantastic company. They asked me today if I got a full time offer with the company I interned with, which is a huge fortune 500 company with an international presence. I did not get an offer because of differences with my manager (she treated me horribly. She has a history of treating her interns poorly and the company said they would look into this). Not sure about what to say without speaking negatively about my manager, I panicked and said I did get a full time offer. I know this was really stupid. I don't know how to fix this - should I tell the truth, cancel my next interview round, or go along with the lie?
Thanks!
First, take a step back, breathe a lil' and smile. :) It isn't the end of the world and you don't have to worry too much about it, okay? This happens all the time, trust me. I would advice against canceling your next round interview. Like what you said, this is a fantastic company and even if you don't an offer now, you would still want to have that option to work in the company, yes? Canceling your next round interview won't look good on your part, it might even burn bridges. So, don't do that. Don't go along with the lie either. You'll never know if the company that you're interviewing with tries to contact your past employer. I suggest for you to immediately send an email to the your interviewer or call him/her if you feel more comfortable with that. Tell her upfront that you did not get an offer and that you realized that you either misunderstood the question. I would rather you frame it in a "sorry I misunderstood" way vs. a "sorry I lie" if you know what I mean. But in essence, I would think sending a quick email, telling them that you in actuality did not get an offer, would suffice.
Thank you!
Also I just noticed a number of grammatical/spelling errors in my last post. Don't mind me! I was rushing!
I'm not sure about what to say. Especially because in the first round, I said yes, and carried it on in the second round because I didn't want to come off as a liar - even though I lied. I seem to have dug myself into a deep hole.
It is never a good idea to lie. I can sympathize with you having differences with your manager, but that is no excuse to lie about receiving an offer.
First of all, of the three options you laid out (1) tell the truth, 2) cancel my next interview round, 3) go along with the lie), you must immediately eliminate the third option "go along with the lie." I strongly, strongly recommend against continuing with the lie.
Now, as to whether or not you should cancel your next interview round... This is a judgment call that only you can make. If you really want this job, then you should by all means continue to the next round. However, if you are asked again during the interview process about receiving an offer, you must be forthcoming this time - no exceptions.
If the issue does not come up again in subsequent interviews, then you will have another judgment call on whether or not you want to raise the issue yourself or remain silent - that judgment call is left up to you.
In the worst case scenario, someone will ask you explicitly "So, I heard you received an offer at your last internship..." It will be painful and embarrassing, but you must, MUST tell them that there has been a mistake and provide them with an explanation.
It may very well cost you the chances of receiving an offer, and if so, those are the consequences you must accept for your actions. However, if the people who are in the position to make the final hiring decision like you, then there is a chance you can still come away with an offer.
Whatever you decide to do - do not go along with the lie.
-Deo et Patriae
Would it be ok if I waited until I heard back on their hiring decision (yes or no) and then came clean?
I would strongly recommend against this.
If broached on the issue, you must come clean immediately.
I'm sorry, I may not have understood you correctly. Are you done with interviews and just waiting for a hiring decision? Or are there still more interviews to be done?
Since you asked in your original post whether or not you should "cancel your next interview round," I was under the impression it was the latter rather than the former...
What stage of the process are you in?
Send a professional but unpretentious email to the person who interviewed you. If you correct the mistake yourself, there's no chance they'll think you were deliberately misleading them; if they somehow catch the lie on their own, they'll think you're trying to outsmart them.
It's very common to say something regretful in an interview. Shooting them a short and timely correction email won't seem out of place. Have you thanked them for the interview yet? This would be a great place to work it in organically.
Edit: Just noticed you've already finished the next round of interviews. Not sure what I would do in your shoes -- probably wait for the hiring decision.
Also, I would add that you should relax and breathe. You do not want to take the anxiety to your next round interview.
When you tell them just reassure them that you're young and you make mistakes, but you'll always be upfront and honest when you do, and apologize for any confusion.
You guys are a bunch of softies sympathizing with this. It'd take more beers for me to do this than bang a 1/10.
Hey look I realized I made a huge mistake and I am trying my best to fix it. Communicating this to the company is going to be really scary and nerve-wracking, but I'm trying to do the right thing, even if it is a little late. And I'm not asking for sympathy, just advice.
Thank you everyone.
I disagree with all the points in this thread except for @floppity
You already "LIED"... you really think they will consider hiring you after you fess up? Run with it and hope they don't find out. The odds of them checking or even finding out are so slim, they don't care that much about you. The reason they asked was to probably know if they need to move quickly with you or not.
Either way, you are taking a gamble.
The problem with running with it and hoping they don't find out is the off-chance that someone does in fact find out. The odds may be slim, but it is impossible to quantify those odds.
For all we know, someone at the final round interview knows someone at the company prettypri interviewed at and an exchange like this could take place over the phone:
Final Round Interviewer: "Hey, we are interviewing prettypri right now, she seems like a great candidate and I understand you guys extended her an offer last summer..."
Person from internship Company: "Uh... no we didn't..."
I knew someone from my analyst class who was terminated shortly after we finished training and got to our desks because he misrepresented himself during the interview process (somehow a background check or some other screening was able to pick up on it).
It's not worth it. Even if you get away with it, the consequences in the off chance that you get caught would be too severe to justify running with it and hoping they don't find out.
I couldn't agree more. Take this one to the grave. Odds of them calling the F500 are very low IMO.
Be sure to come back and tell us how things turn out after your final interview.
1) In response to what someone said early on, don't make it sound like you 'misunderstood the question.' The interviewer will think you're retarded if you don't understand what 'did you get a return offer?' means and will know you were full of shit.
2) I find it hard to believe they won't find out if you don't tell them (won't one of the first questions in the background check, if they call past employers, be did s/he get a return offer?). I don't know much about background checks and have only been on the receiving end of a couple so don't take my word for this.
3) Don't wait till after the hiring decision- if they say yes and then you say by the way I didn't get an offer, that will look terrible and I'd be shocked if they didn't rescind your offer on the spot.
4) Sometimes you get horrible bosses, and you shouldn't have let that stop you from working in the right ways to get a return offer. What did the boss do that was so horrible? Make you work hard? I understand that I have no idea what the situation is/was, but was the only reason you didn't get an offer your boss, or perhaps your reaction/response to your boss? I think sometimes forget that when you're an intern you're at the very bottom of the totem pole- interns these days (and I'm one myself) seem quite entitled sometimes. Think back when interns had to eat shit to get a job- were you working with that attitude? Food for thought for your next internship/job.
5) Definitely shouldn't have lied (as you know). Can't tell you whether you should come clean or not (that's up to you) but I would come clean. Shit, even if you don't and you get the initial offer, that can come back to bite you at any time. Better to be honest and hope for the best- perhaps if you speak to your interviewer and say this is what happened, but this other person (who you've asked about referencing) from my internship can vouch for my work etc, it might not be as bad.
Hopefully you end up having had the coolest interviewer in the world and you tell them and they don't care.
My manager never wanted an intern. The manager I was supposed to get changed roles and my company did not know where to put me so my new manager got "Stuck" with me (told me that to my face). She barely came in to work and had a lot of "personal stuff" going on (she'd take a week off to help her son pack for college, another week off to go camping, etc). I had 6 projects to complete over 3 months and probably saw her a maximum of 4 or 5 times. I did as much as I could, and went to people in case I had questions. One of the people I went to for help noticed that I wasn't getting the support I needed from my manager, and mentioned it to her. My manager assumed I had "told" on her and yelled at me. After that, she started nagging me. She would email my team asking if I was at my desk, and if I wasn't, call me and ask why I was late (I'd usually be on another floor at a meeting). She did not provide me with any guidance, and told me to deal with everything myself. At our weekly check-ins (in person or on the phone), she would rip apart the work I did, reducing me to tears. I went crying home every day for weeks. My parents and friends wanted me to quit but I didn't want to leave early because it would look bad on me. She also threatened that she would make sure I would lose my internship if I talked to anyone else about what I was going through. When I tried to speak to a few people, they told her and she made my life even worse. On my last day, I called my recruiter and told him everything that happened (I made sure I spoke to him before I got the official "no offer" decision). He said that he was sorry this happened, that she had done this before and they would look into it, but they could not change her offer decision.
Tell the truth, it could come back to haunt you
No one is going to check IMO. If you tell them, youre out.
in future interviews, i would suggest saying you didnt receive a return offer, but then lead into a short version of that, explaining that you would not have accepted an offer to work at a place like that anyway
Okay @prettypri take a deep breath. You have three options, tell the company, do not tell the company, or withdraw from consideration. I'm going to assume that you're not an experienced worker since you're leaving a internship. If I'm mistaken, and you actually have >10 years of experience and a diverse and valuable skill set, my conclusions may not apply to your particular situation. Feel free to correct me if need be.
If you tell the company that you lied or that you didn't understand a very simple question on two different occasions you will not get hired. There is a 100% chance you will be out of consideration for the position. Anyone who says otherwise is doing you a disservice.
If you do not tell the company, you are banking that they will ask only the bare minimum while checking references. Reference checks do not, as many people believe, have specific laws that govern how they're done. The only legal issues are those of defamation, meaning if something is objectively true, it's fair game. Questions about the extension of a full time offer absolutely fits the bill of something that can be objectively true or false and is absolutely on the table. Now, if you choose to not say anything, one of two things will happen: 1) They call your references and ask if you were extended a full-time offer, find out you lied and not hire you. There is a non-trivial chance that they will make a note of this that will prevent you from future consideration. 2) They call your references and fail to ask if you were extended a full-time offer and be none the wiser.
You can also withdraw from consideration. This happens all the time when candidates get another job offer during the interview process. You just call or write an email saying "thanks for your time but I've decided to go another direction and I'm going to have to withdraw from consideration" blah blah blah. This would be akin to cancelling your next round but without explanation.
So, looking at your options, the only choice you could make that's undeniably stupid is to tell them you lied to them on two separate occasions. Do not do this. You're a fool if you own up to something that will immediately eliminate you from consideration and tarnish your name with the company. If you choose not to say anything, you're taking a very big risk, but it could work out. I would not recommend this approach. If you withdraw, you will, obviously, not get the job, but you also won't look like a lying liar who lies when faced with simple yet inconvenient questions. I would recommend this approach. Withdraw and look for something else.
Just my $0.02.
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