Does it really work?

[newbud 7]

In the midst of job search one consulting company approached me (since i have IT knowledge) and promised me a great job with excellent benefits. They told me that i have to just brush-up my IT skills for which they will provide a couple weeks training and i have to alter my resume. Since i don't have IT experience in US they will put fake experience for around 4+ years and i will land up in job. On the top of everything they said every consulting company is doing it so its pretty normal to fake experience of 5+ years. I am pretty shocked and talked to one of my friends working in IT and he said its working normally these days in IT. I am jobless and really want job right now. I really want to know if somebody got job by faking experience in IT. Does it really work? If not then what are the possible consequences?

[TBoneTX 45,234]

"But Mom, but Dad... everybody's doing it!"

In most fields, if you're found to have falsified your resume, you'll be out the door that moment, without a job and with a tarnished reputation. In general, lying about anything causes you to have to remember precisely what you said, to whom, and when. It saps your mental energies and increases your level of worry, sometimes acutely. Would you want to walk the halls or sit at your desk at your job, wondering when the guillotine would fall?

Your good name is priceless. It's to be guarded, honored, and cherished at all costs. If I were in your position, I'd tell that "consulting" company to take a long walk off a short pier, and I'd never have a thing to do with them again.

Instead, find the 2 or 3 Chambers of Commerce closest to where you live. Volunteer to help at their functions. Dress professionally, and meet everyone you can. Keep some honest resumes (U.S.-style) close at hand, or at least some business cards (which are inexpensive to make). Follow up with the people you meet. In short, your visibility (being visible) is crucial to your being hired directly or personally referred to someone who wants to hire you for you and for your skills.

[mota bhai 2,675]

In the midst of job search one consulting company approached me (since i have IT knowledge) and promised me a great job with excellent benefits. They told me that i have to just brush-up my IT skills for which they will provide a couple weeks training and i have to alter my resume. Since i don't have IT experience in US they will put fake experience for around 4+ years and i will land up in job. On the top of everything they said every consulting company is doing it so its pretty normal to fake experience of 5+ years. I am pretty shocked and talked to one of my friends working in IT and he said its working normally these days in IT. I am jobless and really want job right now. I really want to know if somebody got job by faking experience in IT. Does it really work? If not then what are the possible consequences?

The scenario you've outlined is very common. And yes, it works. There are "relationships" between some of the guys who run these consulting firms and some of the guys who run large client corporations, ensuring you'll never get caught. The worst thing that can happen to you is you get kicked off a project, in which case they'll just put you somewhere else.

Downside: It's extremely humiliating.

That said...

I have questions.

Are they going to charge you for the training?

You say you have IT knowledge, can you elaborate? What is the source of your knowledge? How have you used this knowledge in the past?

Are you willing to take a position commensurate with your actual experience/knowledge levels?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

That's extremely disappointing if this happens.

My question is, if you did this, what's to say that this company wouldn't falsify their promises of a great job to you? You get the job and turns out it pays 50% less with no benefits?

What happens when you get fired, and you don't have appropriate experience to get a new job. Are you going to beg this company for another, and be at their mercy for your whole life?

Not to mention the pressure of going to work each day and being totally incompetent for your job.

Is that the life you want? Worrying that someone will take away your ill-gotten gains at any time?

[Merrytooth 5,748]

I hate these kind of people who purposely inflated glorified their resume, and yet can't do any F u * king thing after gaining employed.

No sympathy for them if they get fired eventually.

[mota bhai 2,675]

That's extremely disappointing if this happens.

My question is, if you did this, what's to say that this company wouldn't falsify their promises of a great job to you? You get the job and turns out it pays 50% less with no benefits?

What happens when you get fired, and you don't have appropriate experience to get a new job. Are you going to beg this company for another, and be at their mercy for your whole life?

Not to mention the pressure of going to work each day and being totally incompetent for your job.

Is that the life you want? Worrying that someone will take away your ill-gotten gains at any time?

I know many people who have gone this route.

The way it happens is you land on a plane from Mumbai and they put you on your first assignment. You are humiliated and you wash out. It takes maybe a week.

Then the same consulting firm places you somewhere else. The same thing happens, but you go a few days more.

The cycle repeats itself. You are moved from client to client for a while. Now, unless you're some kind of abject fool, you've been trying all along. What happens when you try? You learn. You eventually become someone who can contribute to a project. And then you stick. And then you get laid off again at the first RIF, because while decent you're just not quite good enough to keep around after a reorg.

And by then, you have a real resume.

Life goes on. It's not all kittens and roses.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I know many people who have gone this route.

The way it happens is you land on a plane from Mumbai and they put you on your first assignment. You are humiliated and you wash out. It takes maybe a week.

Then the same consulting firm places you somewhere else. The same thing happens, but you go a few days more.

The cycle repeats itself. You are moved from client to client for a while. Now, unless you're some kind of abject fool, you've been trying all along. What happens when you try? You learn. You eventually become someone who can contribute to a project. And then you stick. And then you get laid off again at the first RIF, because while decent you're just not quite good enough to keep around after a reorg.

And by then, you have a real resume.

Life goes on. It's not all kittens and roses.

I am against this and all Indian work/H1B scams.

I knew it was India just from the story. Sad reputation to have, imo.

[mota bhai 2,675]

It is what it is. They end up better here than they do there, so they do it. Not unlike how all those Central American kids will be better off here, than back home, despite the lack of public support. People do what's good for them.

And they end up fine. All that nonsense about doing what's right is just that - nonsense. Morals never put food on the table.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Maybe, but I still believe that this country has opportunities for people who are willing to work.

You could end up in the same place through honest means.

Maybe it's time to cut the home country's purse strings and strike out on your own without "special consultant" help.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Maybe, but I still believe that this country has opportunities for people who are willing to work.

You could end up in the same place through honest means.

Absolutely, but there's no patronage network there to help. It's harder.

[Jacque67 7,328]

It is what it is. They end up better here than they do there, so they do it. Not unlike how all those Central American kids will be better off here, than back home, despite the lack of public support. People do what's good for them.

And they end up fine. All that nonsense about doing what's right is just that - nonsense. Morals never put food on the table.

Exactly. You gain experience. So many people lie on their cvs.

I believe in winging it. If someone is willing to do the graft I think they should be given the chance. A great many amateurs in the past have ended up the top of their fields ( check the photographers in the 1960s)

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

I work for a large Indian Company and have not seen the issues with the zero knowledge H-1Bs.. For the most part they are knowledgeable and good at their jobs. I *have* seen a large problem with the offshore counterparts - they like to throw waves of freshers at us who are eager to learn but not to do work and it is rare to find someone who can do anything beyond following a line by line set of explicit instructions. Once they have enough training on a technology to put an entry on a resume they immediately start looking elsewhere..

Edited July 2, 2014 by OnMyWayID

[_Paul&Jesica_ 70]

In the midst of job search one consulting company approached me (since i have IT knowledge) and promised me a great job with excellent benefits. They told me that i have to just brush-up my IT skills for which they will provide a couple weeks training and i have to alter my resume. Since i don't have IT experience in US they will put fake experience for around 4+ years and i will land up in job. On the top of everything they said every consulting company is doing it so its pretty normal to fake experience of 5+ years. I am pretty shocked and talked to one of my friends working in IT and he said its working normally these days in IT. I am jobless and really want job right now. I really want to know if somebody got job by faking experience in IT. Does it really work? If not then what are the possible consequences?

My company always performs a detailed background check for all new hires, including education, employment and criminal. If you manage to get through the interview, which I doubt without having experience, the background check would red flag you.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Exactly. You gain experience. So many people lie on their cvs.

I believe in winging it. If someone is willing to do the graft I think they should be given the chance. A great many amateurs in the past have ended up the top of their fields ( check the photographers in the 1960s)

Exactly. Everyone has to forge their own path to success. If someone is willing to do it this way, more power to them. I won't judge. But if they end up interviewing with me the other end and I haven't already been taken care of, then it's goodbye.

[newbud 7]

I am against this and all Indian work/H1B scams.

I knew it was India just from the story. Sad reputation to have, imo.

I am not Indian neither the consultant is Indian.