Question for restaurant workers!

[ErinM]

My brother is applying for restaurant jobs, and is planning to lie about his education as well as his work history. I should point out that his education is not in a field that would be related to the job he's trying to get. And he's planning to get his friend to lie for him.

I'm an HR person. In my world, lying on your resume is something you just don't do, because trust me, I'll probably figure it out.

He claims it's the way things are in the restaurant business, however I'm not so sure, so I'm turning to the experts.

What do you think?

[BryanZ]

Lying on your resume doesn't cut it in any world, end of story. I have limited restaurant work experience and, in general, find that creative embelishment is commonplace across many industries. To fabricate completel lies, however, is dishonest and shows no integrity.

Edited May 3, 2006 by BryanZ (log)

[MissAmy]

Ew. After losing a job to a guy from culinary school who I know for a fact lied on his resume I find this kind of behavior reprehensible. If he can't get the job with the experience he has, he needs to go out and get the experience the honest way.

Sorry to be so harsh, but despite lying on a resume to be dishonest, I am continually apalled by the way people think they can behave in this industry, when they would never pull the same stunts in others.

[Kouign Aman]

I think its a bad idea, firstly because I dont like lying and secondly, because its much too likely to be caught out, in any industry. Experience shows.

However, when I applied for a shortorder cook job some 20 years ago, the restaurant manager pretty much told me to come back tomorrow and this time lie about my (lack of) experience.

[nypork]

It depends on what kind of position he is applying for-if it is a cooking position, things will definitely come out as soon as he picks up a knife or cooks on the line on whether he lied or not. As for management or FOH positions, lying may get his foot in the door, but he will need to prove himself once again, but not so much on technical skills. This industry is full of little lies- from the tips claimed by the waitstaff to the paper work of certain peoples' eligibility to work in the US. I say let him do what he thinks is best, if he feels good about lying so be it, and if the people hiring are duped and hire him, they are made for each other.

[jgm]

My brother is applying for restaurant jobs, and is planning to lie about his education as well as his work history.  I should point out that his education is not in a field that would be related to the job he's trying to get.  And he's planning to get his friend to lie for him.

←

Most people aren't as good at lying as they think they are.

I urge your brother to keep in mind that this is a mistake that could follow him for years, throughout this industry and others. Any employer who finds out he lied, is not going to give him a good reference.

He needs to also understand that if he's branded as a dishonest person, every missing ... anything ... from any workplace, is going to get blamed on him, whether he had anything to do with it or not. An accusation like that may not stick in court, but it will live forever in the gossip mill.

He's about to make a major mistake. I hope you can talk him out of it.

[ghostrider]

I can't speak for the food industry, because I have no experience in it. But if you've been trying to get a job and you keep finding nothing but closed doors due to the "we won't hire you because you have no experience" / "how the heck do I get experience if no one will give me a chance?" Catch 22, lying on your resume may be your last option.

But you better have the chops to back it up if you do get hired.

How you deal with the ethical issues is between you & your conscience.

[KatieLoeb]

I've seen plenty of places that don't even bother to check references. They get what they deserve in that case. A former employer hired my replacement after I'd resigned and didn't bother checking their references. The individual in question is someone that I'd fired years ago at another job for stealing. They'd also been fired for stealing by another friend of mine that had been their boss at another restaurant. Oh well. That's what you get for being too lazy or desperate to bother checking references.

Flat out making up skills you possess or work experience you don't legitimately have will undoubtedly come back to bite you in the ass someday. Usually doesn't take very long for that to happen.

[LaurieB]

The food/beverage/restaurant community in my town is very tight -- as a member of said community, it would only take me 1 to 3 phone calls to get the story on anyone I was considering hiring. I agree, lying on your resume could very well come back to bite you where it would hurt.

[prasantrin]

How you deal with the ethical issues is between you & your conscience.

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It is my understanding that should a person lie on a resume, and get a job with that resume, s/he can (if the lie is discovered) be fired as well as sued for damages.

It's not just an ethical issue, it's a legal one, as well.

[joiei]

ErinM, encourage your brother to be honest on his resume and applications. If one brags about knowledge they do not possess, it only hurts them. Plus getting a confedrate to participate in the charade is unthinkable. It may be a game to him now, but it will hurt him at some point. And this industry is probably tougher than he possibly expects, either FOH or BOH.

[alanamoana]

Funny you should bring this up as I was just reading this article. This could definitely come back to bite your brother on the @$$. It is common sense, but it just isn't as common as it used to be. nytimes

[zilla369]

I would tell your brother that most kitchens would hire anyone, experience or not, if they're willing to work the right hours for the right (read: cheap) pay.

A lot of chefs would rather take a completely green person and train them the way they want than to take a culinary school graduate that thinks a lot of themselves, believe me. And if he's going to go beyond that and represent himself as someone with a LOT of experience, well - as others have said - he'll be found out within a couple hours, anyway.

I always ask potential cook hires what steps they would take, in order, if I asked them to boil a dozen eggs. You can laugh if you want to, but there are tons of cooks, even celebrated ones, good ones, that can execute unbelievably complex dishes - but they don't know how to boil an egg properly. Also I'm looking for stuff like "well, first I would wash my hands, then I would ask where the aprons are and where the eggs are kept...."

[ghostrider]

Re-reading the first paragraph, I realize that I didn't comprehend the apparent extent of the planned fabrications when I first read this. Now it sounds like a dangerous game. Lying to bolster a skill that you know you have is one thing, making up a background out of whole cloth is something else again.

[ErinM]

Thanks, everyone, I thought it was pretty much a bad idea. Of course, he wasn't going to believe me, because I've never worked in a restaurant.

I think he's trying to get a job as a waiter. I'm not sure he wants/can cook. He's done some bartending, so maybe that's something. I'm still not clear as to why he has to say he has more experience than he does, though. May have to do with the fact that I don't think he's worked at all since about 1999-2000 or so, I can't rightly recall.

Also, as far I as know, he's targeting chain restaurants since they tend to hire those with less experience. The better restaurants around here want people with more, which makes sense.

[jgm]

I can't speak for the food industry, because I have no experience in it.  But if you've been trying to get a job and you keep finding nothing but closed doors due to the "we won't hire you because you have no experience" / "how the heck do I get experience if no one will give me a chance?" Catch 22, lying on your resume may be your last option.

But you better have the  chops to back it up if you do get hired.

How you deal with the ethical issues is between you & your conscience.

←

By the time I graduated from college, I had a resume full of internships, etc., that were performed for no pay. They included stints I created for myself by walking into places and offering to work for free, for a particular project, a week at a time, or a month at a time. I made it clear I was willing to do anything in the profession, and at any hour. All it takes is one good, solid reference to get the first of these positions, and then things just progressed. I developed a reputation as someone who was capable and hard-working.

I was also amazed at how many students wouldn't even consider working for no pay.

[Tweety69bird]

A friend of mine signed up with a placement agency, and the rep there told him to lie on his CV in order to get a particular job, (not the food industry). Imagine, these reps are paid by the hiring company to find them a competent person!

That being said, I think that getting a job on your own merits boosts your self esteem instead of trying to pretend you are someone that you're not. I wouldn't be proud of getting a job that way at all, and I agree that your brother's true work experience will come out in the end.

Edited to add: I guess the only real way to know if a CV is credible or not, is to check those references provided.

Edited May 4, 2006 by Tweety69bird (log)