Exaggerated Bullet Points on my resume-Worried about reference check now
Graduated Senior about to start FT at a MM later this Summer and getting a little worried about the upcoming background check. I'm specifically worried about the past work experience part because I had an internship that was fairly administrative stuff that I phrased as being more analytical that it was. Additionally, my supervisor at this job definitely was the biggest fan of me (mainly because I had to take time off to deal with some family stuff) so absolutely would not cover for me. What worries me most is my offer letter says that a reference check will be performed on my past employment and I am under the impression that a reference check is more in depth than calling the people I list as references and making sure that I worked there when I said I did. If it is just the standard call verifying that I worked in the position I did than that will come out fine.
So WSO, am I just freaking out about this too much and it will probably be fine? Were any of your offers contingent on a reference check? Was it just the standard stuff that's been posted on here?
Bump
Been through BG checks before without a problem. I think it’s basically to make sure you didn’t completely make jobs up and that you’re not a crackhead. Maybe someone else can chime in.
Anyone else have some insight
I think you'll be fine.
"my supervisor at this job definitely was the biggest fan of me (mainly because I had to take time off to deal with some family stuff) so absolutely would not cover for me"
Huh? I guess you missed a "not" in there.
Anyways, I'd say not to worry. Reference checks are mostly just the office confirming you held the position you claimed, and any potential red flags. If they gave you the full time offer, it means that they believe you have the chops to do this job. Only thing I don't understand why you'd put a supervisor you had a bad relationship with as a reference, but hopefully that's lesson learned for you.
Thanks for the comment. Definitely forgot the not in my original post haha and just to clarify I did not intern with my future firm so they haven't really seen my work yet. To give some detail, the internship in question involved mostly data entry and I wrote that I did some forecasting and other things. Also what makes me most nervous is the company my future firm outsources the background check to offers a reference check service in addition to employment verification.
I wouldn't worry too much.
During my background check, i had the feeling that they are mostly checking that you actually worked where you said you were. Another really big point is obviously the accuracy of transcripts. I've heard of a few people faking some grades on their transcripts to give themselves mild boosts - so this will be something that is gonna be cross-checked 100%.
"I had an internship that was fairly administrative stuff that I phrased as being more analytical that it was."
This is like a right of passage in finance. Everyone does this. As long as you had some amount of tangential exposure to the BS you're putting on your resume then it's not a big deal. Frankly, even if you're completely making it all up they're only going to check your position and possibly your wage anyway.
I wouldn't worry, everyone exaggerates on their resume to a degree. Just don't flat out lie. My understanding is that these ref checks are more about verifying your work history (companies, dates, etc.) and less about verifying your resume points.
What do you mean by flat out lie? If I did mostly data entry stuff and phrased my experience as more of a modeling forecasting role, do you think that will be a problem?
I don't think that would be an issue. While you personally may have been more involved in the data entry side, you served in a supportive function where people used your work for modeling/forecasting. Those may not have been your deliverables at the end of the day but your work contributed to their completion and I'm sure you got exposure from team members to drive around the models a bit.
By don't flat out lie I mean don't list experiences or skill sets that you genuinely had no involvement in or exposure to. Stuff like: don't list VBA if your only experience with macros is hitting the button, don't list your prior team as corporate development if you worked in FP&A.
Exaggeration is expected, lying is not.
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