I fudged the end date of my last job by six weeks. What now?

• On my resume, I fudged the end date for my last job by six weeks, to cover up a bad situation where I was not at fault. A new company has given me an offer, checked my references, and sent me all the new hire paperwork. I'm supposed to start in two weeks. Only problem? I had to consent to a background check. Now I'm concerned that my lie will be uncovered. What do I do? I worked at Widgets, Inc for two years. I left that job to work for Foobar, LLC. Upon starting at Foobar, LLC., I quickly learned that I had been lied to about the job description. Furthermore, my manager was verbally abusive and berated me a number of times when I had done nothing wrong. The situation was unbearable, and so I quit without giving notice. I worked there for a total of 5 weeks. According to my resume, I am still working at Widgets, Inc., when in reality, I quit working there about 6 weeks ago. My new prospective employer uses a background checking service that promises to "contact former empoloyers to verify work history and reasons for leaving". According to the offer letter, the offer is contingent upon successfully completing the background check. However, they asked that I turn in the background check consent form (along with the other new hire paperwork) on my first day of work. So if they found out about my lie, it would be some time after I started work. Questions : A) What's the likelihood someone will notice that I fudged my end date at Widgets, Inc. by 6 weeks? B) If they do notice, what will happen? C) Why in the world didn't they do the background check BEFORE they offered me the job? D) Is there any way they can find out about my time at Foobar, LLC? None of my employment history shows up on my credit reports (I pulled all three last night). E) And finally, what the heck do I do? Make up some excuse as to why I can't take the job? Or start work in two weeks and hope they don't uncover my lie? And what if I take the job and they do uncover the lie? What do I to then? Some more details : * I left Widgets, Inc. on good terms, and I'm pretty sure my former manager would be a positive reference If I were to ask him. However, Widgets, Inc. has a phone line for employee verification, and I believe all they tell you is start and end dates. * I found the new job through a 3rd party recruiter, who I imagine is probably paid a hefty commission. * I have near-perfect credit, and no criminal history.

• Answer:

  People - Companies will do background checks. Period. Why do you hide the truth? STOP IT. If you had come to the hive back then, I would have suggested leaving your resume intact (saying xx- present). When asked specifically about leaving, that's when you should have said "that copy of the resume is actually slightly dated.. I left Widgets for xx reasons. The new company turned out to have grossly misrepresented the position, so after giving it a chance, I voluntarily left. It was only a matter of weeks, and was not the position I had interviewed for, so I don't think it's right to include it." Also, the new fad in resumes is just to give years of employment (98-2001, 2001-2004) instead of specific months. Now, on to your actual concern; A) What's the likelihood someone will notice that I fudged my end date at Widgets, Inc. by 6 weeks? Most times, the checks ask if the person was employed, and if they were terminated with cause. Sometimes they'll ask specific date. So, depends on the HR person doing the check. Either they'll assume the 6 weeks was because you left just ahead of the interview process starting, they'll flag it as unsual but not noteworthy given everything else matches up, or they'll flag it because that's the kind of detail-oriented person they are. B) If they do notice, what will happen? Depends, again. 6 weeks is not as big of a deal as say 6 months or a year or more. Again, it may just be written off as not consequential. C) Why in the world didn't they do the background check BEFORE they offered me the job? Because there is no reason to go through it until you accept the offer. They can still come back a few weeks to months to years in and term you for cause. My friend indicated he completed a degree when he was 3 credits short. 5 years later, someone uncovered it and he was gone that day. D) Is there any way they can find out about my time at Foobar, LLC? None of my employment history shows up on my credit reports (I pulled all three last night). Yes - everyone is doing social networking searches now. Is it relevant? Probably not, given the short term. And if it is brought up, answer above should suffice. E) And finally, what the heck do I do? Make up some excuse as to why I can't take the job? Or start work in two weeks and hope they don't uncover my lie? And what if I take the job and they do uncover the lie? What do I to then? Start work. You can't do anything until it comes up. When it comes up, don't lie, but don't say you lied. Answer above should suffice - you didn't update your resume, and the 6 weeks you didn't consider relevant, given the circumstances. Do not talk about the boss berating you. Stick to the job not being what they said and be somewhat specific. I.E. they hired me to be a webmonkey then had me doing excel spreadsheets without any web related work at all. Delivery is important. If you act guilty like you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, it'll be bad. If you are 'oh, that.. it was 6 weeks, and didn't believe it would be relevant given the circumstances,' then less of an issue.