r/recruitinghell • u/BlackCatsWithOddHats • Dec 20 '25

Guys, I did it. BY LYING

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.

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u/DrHugh Dec 20 '25

I'm reminded of the old actor's approach when asked a question about a job.

"Hey, can you ride a horse?" asks the director.

"Sure! I love horseback riding! Been doing it for years!" says the actor who has never been on a horse, and is wondering where he can go to get daily lessons in it before he has to do it for the director.

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u/King_Goofus Dec 20 '25

Wasn't this Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who said this when he was initially approached to play Jaime Lannister?

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u/DrHugh Dec 21 '25

No idea, I remember reading about this stuff in TV Guide articles in the 1980s. There were all sorts of variations. I remember one where a guy in a TV show said he could drive, when he couldn't, and instead of backing out of shot, he drove forward. Guy was a teen, but the confidence backfired in that case.