
Ask HN: Faking your resume to acquire projects - s3arch
It has been two months joining a company as a fresher. I was pulled into the project within a month. I am comfortable working as a shadow for the project. Recently I as well as others with 1-2 years of experience were asked to prepare a resume which is to be sent to clients for acquiring few projects. Even though it has been just 2 months, I was asked to showcase myself as a developer of 2 years of experience. I promptly said I cannot do that. They accepted it, but then submitted my resume to the client not only as a developer of 2 years of experience but also with fake projects that I had never worked on. They told me this is how other companies also work and there is nothing wrong in &quot;pumping up&quot; the resume. I again went to the HR and said I can&#x27;t be a part of this process, as my conscience does not allow me to do that. They were polite and accepted my reasons. But I could see that they are really not happy with what I did. I have just started my career and not sure what will be the consequence of my decision. I am willing to lose this job instead of faking my resume.<p>Did anyone has been in this situation? How things went by when you refused to do such kind of unethical activities? Did you get punished indirectly? Is it a common practice in all companies?
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ciguy
I'm guessing you're in India? This is such common practice that as a CTO I've
been forced to blanket ban working with Indian firms. This is one of the least
dishonest things they do, some of the other stuff I could tell stories about
is far worse.

You're doing the right thing, but that doesn't mean you won't be punished for
it in the short term. Hopefully someone recognizes your integrity in the long
term and you are rewarded accordingly but there are no guarantees.

~~~
cik
Same deal. My personal favourite is always the difference between the actual
technical interview passer, and individual doing the work. I know of many
companies that blanket ban India, Ukraine, and Belarus because of this.

~~~
notus
What is it about these countries that makes people that way? There are plenty
of other poor countries where this doesn't happen as much. What about India,
Ukraine, and Belarus makes people think it is okay to be dishonest?

~~~
Waterluvian
My guess is a history of scarcity of resources. When there literally isn't
enough to go around, you'll cut in line, lie, cheat, defraud to get ahead.

I remember someone from Brazil once telling me that if you get swindled,
society looks at you as a sucker who clearly deserved it, not at the swindler
as a bad person.

~~~
ciguy
This isn't quite right, since there are many poor or poorer countries where
this isn't the case. However it does seem more common in poor developing
countries so I don't doubt it's a contributing factor.

~~~
SamReidHughes
It might be partly the other direction, too.

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gbtw
I heard it happens sometimes with intermediates for contractors too. A
contractor friend gave the following advice.

Take a copy of your resume with you, the real one and go to your first meeting
alone. Get them to talk about their stuff before handling your cv, act
interested ask follow up questions and push on it. Then when it comes to your
CV act surprised when they talk about stuff you didn't do. Tell them you have
your cv as given to the intermediary and compare notes. Tell them you are
disappointed with wasting their time but that the job looked really
interesting. Most times the company is happy to find out their intermediary is
shit and sometimes offers to take you on on trail basis.

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markbnj
You already know it's wrong, as evidenced by your post. I'm not going to be
the one to tell you to quit, because I don't know where you work, or who you
work for, or how easy it would be for you to replace the check, how many
mouths you have to feed, etc. It's enough that you get why its the wrong thing
to do. If you had to keep taking pay from this company for awhile I don't
think anyone would blame you.

------
i_am_proteus
In some industries this is such common practice that it's expected, and
requirements are upscaled to account for it.

To the point where my organization issued a RFP asking for "engineers with 15+
years of experience" in something that did not exist five years prior. I asked
the obvious question and was told "that's the only way we'll get anyone
competent."

I left that job.

------
wooshy
This happened to me when I worked at TCS right out of college. I did the same
thing as you and brought my case to HR and they didn't seem to care. When the
client interviewed me I was very open about my actual skills and told them
when something was just not true when they'd reference a lie on my resume that
the company fabricated. Nothing negative ever happened to me during my
employment there but I immediately started looking for another job.

~~~
drewbitt
Interesting. Is that TCS in India, US, or elsewhere? I am still there in the
US, also directly out of college, and hadn't heard of that happening here.

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robbyoconnor
Can Indian companies actually just hire competent devs rather than trying to
push their devs to misrepresent their experience level, please?

It's really doing a disservice to Indians who are actually competent and
giving companies that employ Indians a bad name...it's not good.

~~~
ciguy
Part of the issue may be brain drain. Really smart hard working ethical
developers often leave India.

~~~
robbyoconnor
I don't blame them

------
ChuckMcM
It demonstrates a company with a lack of integrity. In my experience such
companies end up losing and their poor ethics smear the reputation of people
that worked there. It sounds like you have a choice to make.

------
rrauenza
You might also wish to post (anonymously) to
[https://workplace.stackexchange.com/](https://workplace.stackexchange.com/)

~~~
s3arch
Thanks for referring. Will post there too.

~~~
rrauenza
I think this is it? [https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/137096/my-
empl...](https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/137096/my-employer-
faked-my-resume-to-acquire-projects)

~~~
s3arch
Yes :)

------
surds
I have been there, even when I was not in India then and not a 'fresher' as
well.

I had just completed my Masters program from a well known university and was
in the job hunt phase. I was contacted my multiple 'consultancies' that
offered to tailor my resume to the needs of 'prestigious' clients and get me
the position.

They were planning to show 7 years of work experience - I was just over 5
years out of my undergrad - which included actual 4+ years of experience, a
nice break and then a 1 years Masters program.

I could not fathom how they would fake my resume to show the 7 years
experience, but they were very confident about it. I was amused at the
practice.

I was at the risk of having to leave the country if I could not secure a job
over the coming months, and would have student loans to deal with as well.
Despite this, I could not digest the idea of having a fake resume that I will
have to carry for my entire professional life.

IMO - Do not do this if your moral compass does not allow it. You will be
better off in the long run. (:fingers-crossed)

BTW, I am Indian and was in Bay Area when this happened (2014) and the
'consultancy' was also local.

~~~
s3arch
Thank you for sharing your experience.

------
narag
They did that to me at least once. I found out when the customer asked me for
some certification. It was infuriating, because I was the only one not lying:
the customer wanted to present me to their clients as their employee, when I
was actually a subcontractor, so they didn't even complain to my bosses.

I don't know what I would do in your position. I have almost 25 years of
experience and won't lie ever. If I can't get some job, I'd look for another
one worse paid.

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femto113
Quit and look for a more honest company. The kind of company that would lie in
this way to get business is the same kind of company that would lie to you
about their financial situation or throw you under the bus and lie to a client
about your role in some problem. Plus if their behavior eventually does catch
up with them you won't want to put the time you do spend there on your real
resume, so better to cut your losses now than waste a couple years.

------
bibinou
Your story feels very similar to this thread on reddit
[https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/axqkcq/i...](https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/axqkcq/i_was_recently_hired_by_zytech_a_consulting/)

Maybe you can find some answers there ?

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bitwize
The company you joined -- it's BrighterBrain, isn't it? This is not common
practice in the USA or Europe, but BrighterBrain (f.k.a. Unbounded Solutions)
is one of the few outfits scummy enough to try to get away with it. Ditch
those scumbags at your first opportunity. Even if it's not BrighterBrain,
you're working for scum.

------
teddyuk
Find somewhere else to work

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jdboyd
If they do it anyway, you probably can't reasonably stop them short of
quitting. Quitting likely would be best, but maybe you can't afford to right
now.

If it comes up while talking with a client, I would just tell the truth about
the specific part they are asking about and mention that there must be an
error in the document they were given. That is what I've done when I found
that recruiters added lies to my resume in the past. I don't think anyone ever
held it against me. I take my own copies of my resume with me, but I'm not
sure if that applies in your situation.

------
imafish
I was asked to use very exaggerating adjectives about my abilities on a
resume, mainly because I would be able to gain those abilities fairly easy and
the “customer” was more focused on buzz words and years of experience than
real talent.

It was a large public tender, we were a big team (of mainly unexperienced
engineers), we won it and we did a really good job.

It was probably unfair competition to lie on the resume - but I think my
employer knew better what they needed, than they did themselves, so we gamed
the tender.

~~~
baal80spam
I don't understand that "you were asked to" do it. Who asked you?

~~~
imafish
My employer at the time - a large international consulting agency. We were
given a list of technologies that we were required to mention on our resumes
with the instruction “If you have heard about it, you are experienced, if you
have worked with it you are either very experienced or an expert”. It did feel
wrong writing that resume but tbh I do not think we were overselling our
abilities much - only the experience part.

------
vfulco2
There's a real disconnect in some cultures between what they say and do.
Instead of fostering long term mutually beneficial relationships (as they say
they are focused on), it is all about screwing the opponent. There is no shame
in doing it. The only shame is in being caught. It's easy to see what holds
back certain economic systems with such malfeasance.

------
tsherr
Well, in a the same field (IT) it is common for companies to sell computers
with pirated Windows, used parts as new, etc. In the small town I live in,
know of five companies (two out of business) where this is common practice. I
t think it's IT people taking advantage of non-IT people.

------
throwaway13000
Good job. Don't worry too much. There will be no consequences for you in the
long run. Honesty also makes you stronger. You will just find a employer who
will do things honestly. But do read algorithms and coding questions
thoroughly.

~~~
s3arch
Thank you. Thanks for emphasizing on learning algorithms and coding questions.

------
badpun
> again went to the HR and said I can't be a part of this process, as my
> conscience does not allow me to do that.

Technically, you were not a part of this - some salespeople lied to the client
and your company got the contract. You did not partake in this. If you want to
only work on contracts that were won 100% ehtically, you probably should open
your own company, as, from what I've seen, you won't find much companies (in
the "generic software development" market) doing that. Or, more realistically,
work for a company that writes software for its own use and not for clients.

------
dominotw
> Is it a common practice in all companies?

quite common in indian firms.

I've never seen this outside indian consultancies/bodyshops. But I don't know
for sure.

------
aakilfernandes
Ive consulted for a few years in the US, never had this happen to me or heard
it happening to fellow consultants.

------
magic_beans
Honestly, who cares? You're not hurting anyone. Unless you feel you won't be
paid appropriately, this isn't illegal or even THAT unethical. If anything,
you'll learn something new and come out of this with some really good
knowledge.

But if you really want to quit over this: listen to your instinct. I wouldn't,
but that's me.

~~~
DanBC
> this isn't illegal

It's literally fraud.

~~~
JudgeWapner
it's a lie/deceit, but I'm not convinced it's fraud. fraud is:

> intentional misrepresentation of material existing fact made by one person
> to another with knowledge of its falsity and for the purpose of inducing the
> other person to act, and upon which the other person relies with resulting
> injury or damage.

Everything is fine until "resulting injury or damage". You'd have trouble
proving that a guy who falsely said he wrote parallel FizzBuzz with REST API
on a 500-client kubernetes rack caused you any harm.

~~~
DanBC
> upon which the other person relies with resulting injury or damage

If he gets a job the wages are damage to the employer.

If he gets an interview the time spent interviewing is damage to the employer.

