Do honest, minor mistakes on my resume make me a liar and/or an ineligible to be hired?

Question

I recently received a fantastic job offer that I accepted..I went through the hiring process, drug test, and bkgr ck and was given a start date...But I received a call from the company hr dept questioning some of the info on my resume. Of course my last employer was listed as well as my start date, but the hr rep(with new comp) said they were inconsistent with the info she received after doing her investigating. It was then I realized that with prior job, I was hired thru temp agency for 6 months b4 actually being hired as an employee. So it was an honest mistake..Does this make me ineligible for the position now? Do companies consider honest mistakes as a lie and just move to the next candidate?

Answer 1

Call them and explain that you were temp to hire. Be sure to provide the info for the temp agency. Explain your situation and you should be fine.

Answer 2

Frankly, that's too much of a push in my opinion. What the semantics of who paid your salary & benefits aren't a big deal - it should be the actual work you did.

Big lies are some obvious ones such as having an MBA when you didn't and boosting your GPA a whole point (2.5 to 3.5).

If this position falls through, I'd submit some written general references along with the resume or interview. Having someone vouch for you would make the difference.

In my job history, there was a period when funding fell short and they let me go for 8 months. Funding came back and there was no problem getting hired on. Originally I tried dictating that in my resume and it look awfully fishy. My resume is an official lie, but I'm okay with it and it doesn't look as fishy.

Answer 3

This question would depend on the policies of a company. Many companies consider any discrepancies as an indication of dishonesty. Simply put, why would an employer wish to hire someone who was dishonest on their application? What else might they be dishonest about?
The best course of action for you to take is to develop an accurate resume and use the information from it to complete job applications. "Honest Mistakes" aren't generally accepatble as a reason for discrepancies. Many employers have built a policy into their policies and procedures that allows them to terminate an employee immediately if any employment documents are falsified.

Answer 4

I would first call the HR person back and explain why the dates are inconsistant with the information she received from your former employer.

I doubt it makes you ineligible but if it looks like you lied, they probably aren't going to want to hire you. If you give them the explaination as to why there is a 6 month difference in time, they will likely understand.