'I led that project': Guy puts random coworker down as a reference, she exposes the lies on his resume

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 19, 2024 8:00 AM EST

It's probably not a good idea to take credit for a former coworker's work on your resume and then list that person as a reference. It was only a matter of time before the lies on this dude's resume would be uncovered and proven false. 

Now, I am sympathetic to someone feeling backed into a corner during an interview process and having to cough up a name as a reference out of nowhere. However, surely this guy could have considered literally anyone else. Perhaps the people who did work closely with him were inappropriate because their working relationships didn't end on good terms. Perhaps it didn't even cross this guy's mind that he lied on his resume, which means he's simply delusional and has possibly normalized his own delusions. Either way, it was the wrong choice and it did not end well for him.

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  • 01
    "Someone I barely knew put me down as a job reference and lied about their experience"
    via Firmbee.com

  • This thread was posted to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit by u/__teebee__, the former coworker who discovered during a reference call that he had taken her work for granted. Keep scrolling below for the full exchange between her and the HR representative at the company that was considering him. For more stories like this, check out this post about a ridiculous new PTO policy. 

  • 02
    r/r/MaliciousCompliance Posted by u/__teebee___ 20 hours ago Someone I barely knew was too lazy to ask me for a reference? Face the consequences. м ос This happened a few years ago. I received a phone call from an HR person from a staffing agency I almost worked for at one point (that's another funny story for another day). I got through the greetings and small talk and got down to business.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 03
    HR: I have a person you know applying for a job with one of our customers. Me: Sort of confused no one gave me a heads up. Who are we talking about? HR: Your friend Moe. Me: Who?
    via u/__teebee__
  • 04
    HR: Moe lastname he said he worked with you at the email company. Me: Ohhh ok I remember him. But I'm not sure why he'd put my name down we didn't work all that closely. I interacted with his team only peripherally because we had equipment in his office. I don't really feel comfortable providing a reference.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 05
    HR: Well that's sort of our fault we sort of pressured him to cough up references on the fly. Me: I don't feel comfortable providing a reference. HR: Come on OP we know each other help me out.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 06
    Me: Well not being his manager I can't discuss his performance. HR: Ok can I ask you about his technical skills and you comment those. Me: Fine ask away. HR: How is Moe with Software package #1? Me: ok I guess maybe 2.5 out of 5
    via u/__teebee__
  • 07
    (5/5 is extremely rare for this software I might be 4.7 and I've used the software for 20+ years and even flown to the vendors HQ to work of technology issues and help design future versions of products with them) HR: Great! How is he with Hardware platform #1? Me: Well in the time he was at the email company he never touched the platform. If he gained knowledge from elsewhere I can't comment.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 08
    HR: Wait that can't be right. He said he lead the Hardware Platform #1 refresh project Me: Well that's not true. HR: Email company is huge is it possible you weren't aware of the project? Me: No. I'm very aware of the project and he wasn't leading it.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 09
    HR: How can you be so sure? Me: Because "I" lead that project. HR: (Very uncomfortably) Oh. Me: I think it's best for everyone we end the call here. I think you have a phone call to make. HR: Yeah that's probably best.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 10
    I didn't necessarily bash him but just set the record straight. TLDR; Someone I barely knew put me down as a job reference and lied about their experience and HR forced me to set the record straight.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 11
    Elliott2030 21 hr. ago Bizarre that he'd use you as a reference while claiming he did your job. But I guess you were the first person to come to mind since he STOLE YOUR JOB! LOL!
    via u/__teebee__
  • 12
    SdBolts4 20 hr. ago If HR was pressuring him to provide references (and seems like HR was willing to do the bare minimum on these based on their pressuring OP to still provide ratings), Moe might've just been hoping they would check the box that he has references and not actually call them
    via u/__teebee__
  • 13
    punklinux 20 hr. ago I was stunned when a former project manager claimed that I was his direct supervisor (I was not), and that he was in charge of a bunch of stuff I had never even heard of, and I doubt my former company even DID.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 14
    This PM was an incompetent tool who had been removed from a few projects because he was really bad at his job. He was one of those people who did nothing for 90% of the time given, and then the last 10% micromanaged down everyone's throat with impossible last minute demands. I only worked with him in a peripheral level: my boss was part of a few of his projects, and then he'd trickle down to me anything he needed me to do. And every time, my boss would spend a few minutes ranting about him. "I k
    via u/__teebee__
  • 15
    but is there any way you could provision 30 systems in the next 24 hours with no specs except that they are QA? No? Not surprising. At least I checked. Guess who asked in today's quarterly project planning meeting? Yes, they rolled back the huge rock in front of the cave where this idiot hibernates." I only met him in person a few times, and he had this nodding, crossed- armed Mussolini stance and a grin when he spoke. Instantly punchable, and prone to tantrums. He wasn't "fired" as much as "his
    via u/__teebee__
  • 16
    So I was blindsided that he claimed that he was my top PM I hired for all sorts of projects for security clearance. And this investigator went down a list where I started off, "maybe they have me confused with someone else" and ended the call with both of us realizing he made everything up. Some names, and a few dates were correct, but everything else was "I have never heard of that" or "no, he did not do that for my company as far as I know." My favorite:
    via u/__teebee__
  • 17
    "He claims he won top awards for his work. Do you know which awards?" "I don't think that company gave anyone awards outside of sales." "So, you didn't give him Top Manager of the Year for [three year span]?" "He was only with the company for one year."
    via u/__teebee__
  • 18
    My guess is that the kind of denial people like him have crosses from fraud into delusions on the level of pathological. And this was security clearance. You don't with security clearance.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 19
    AgreeablePie 20 hr. ago The fact that they forced him to come up with a name on the fly makes this feel like a situation for everyone
    via u/__teebee__
  • 20
    GirlStiletto 19 hr. ago I had that happen once. She went to college with me and dated one of my ex friends. A person who was more chaotic than a bag of cats and a pathological liar as well as being someone who constantly put herself in debt by getting and then maxxing out new credit cards.
    via u/__teebee__
  • 21
    She put me down as a reference for a job at a bank. I was manager of my own company at the time and had been landlord to one of her friends briefly. Hr told me that they were looking into her as a teller for their bank. I told them that if I went into their bank and saw her benid the counter, I would probably take all of my money from the bank. Because any institution that would hire her obviously had no standards, background checks, or responisbility for money handling. She did not get the job.
    via u/__teebee__

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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work malicious-compliance-reddit human resources reddit thread Reddit company job interview interview toxic-work-environment
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