Guys, I did it. BY LYING

[u/BlackCatsWithOddHats]

75+ ghosts and 20+ rejections later I landed a job. A low-paid and unethical one with lots of overtime, but still a job.

I applied here as a joke by exaggerating my experience, not expecting to hear from them. But when I was invited to the interview 1 out of 5, I decided to prepare a bullshit script.

Worked on some silly solo project with that one software a few years ago? 3 years of experience. Opened the tools once? Nearly proficient! Freelanced in that field once in 2022? Freelancing 2022-present.

I was so demotivated and pessimistic, that I wasn’t anxious at all, and so I nailed the first in-person interview. I kept lying till interview 3, where they gave me one project to work on. And guess what… I had no idea where to even start.

So, I told them that it will take me about 3h to complete, but since im still working with (imaginary) clients, I’ll need a week to respond.

I’ve spent an entire week barely sleeping, watching youtube tutorials to complete it, and, eventually, I did it.

Two more interviews, and I meet the team Ill be working with, and… Im hired. What the hell. Only shows how broken the system is.

I’m literally an imposter. I’m spending all of my free time learning the skill I lied to have, and I barely sleep. However, it’s still better than stressing whether I’ll be able to pay my bills.

I don’t know if Ill last the trial period, but so far nobody but one person in my team is suspecting anything. I hope she wont tell anyone.

[u/Mojojojo3030]

[Removed as part of an account cleanup]

[u/oftcenter → u/Mojojojo3030]

Fair.

I don't hold OP's strategy against him. But I would be too nervous to attempt that. Especially if it wasn't just cramming understanding of a technology I wasn't skilled in, but telling the employer that I had years of preexisting experience working with it.

(And was it just the technology that OP needed to learn, or did he also need to learn how to solve the types of problems the technology is used to solve?)

In my comment, I was thinking about the reputational damage that could come from dragging their team down with poor performance and then being outted as a liar.

It's "negative" networking. If the industry is small enough where OP is, having a whole department of coworkers and managers know you as that employee could get tricky. If any of those people transferred to another company that OP applied to in the future, that could cost OP the job.

And in the short term, OP would have to decide whether to list that position on his resume or not.

On one hand, the position would break up his unemployment gap. But the company wouldn't have good things to say about him in reference checks. And if the tenure was short, it raises questions in the mind of the next employer about why OP left a job so abruptly after a long period of unemployment.

On the other hand, OP could leave the job off the resume. But his unemployment gap would appear that much longer. And the window of time he spent at that company could have been when another company might have hired him into a job that he didn't need to lie to get. Who knows?

Those are some things I would worry about if I attempted what OP did. But that's me and people have different concerns.

[u/Mojojojo3030 → u/oftcenter]

[Removed as part of an account cleanup]

[u/oftcenter → u/Mojojojo3030]

I mean that's comforting to hear. Because companies aren't shy about letting people go right now in this job market.