Employee sends fake resume to the company where he works out of curiosity, leaves the link to his real portfolio, they catch him, and now he's getting in trouble with HR

Author image for Giuliana Tiscioni
Giuliana Tiscioni • Writer
Nov 8, 2026 8:00 PM EST

A company employee was curious about the staff selection process, so he applied to an open position with a fake resume. He forgot to change the portfolio link, so it still pointed to his real portfolio, and now he's getting in trouble with HR for wasting the recruiter's time and, apparently, investigating the company. 

What happens when curiosity gets the best of you?

Well, it depends on what you're curious about, obviously. Some questions can be answered through a quick Google search, like 'Why is the sky blue?' or 'Why does my head ache?' Granted, the last one will throw at you a list of a few hundred illnesses you've never even heard of, which will lead you to think there's no salvation for you, and you'll end up calling your relatives in the middle of the night to say goodbye because this will be your last week on the planet. Same old Google stuff, you know, like a regular Tuesday. 

However, there are questions that Uncle Google can't answer, like, 'Why is the job market so complicated?' People look for jobs and say there's nothing available; companies say they have positions to fill, but there are no candidates. Who's lying here? Well, that's exactly what an employee tried to figure out by sending a fake resume to an open position in the company he was already working for. 

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  • ABOUT ME consectencing, sed de Resume Lorem Ipsum EXPERIENCE SENIOR DESIGNER CREATIVE BEE (2011-) Lorenpumdur stamet consecteturadipisicinget sed do ASSISTANT DESIGNER GRAVITY DESIGNS EDUCATION BACHELOR OF ART SKILLS GREEN ELEPHANT ARTS WORK PERSONAL COMMUNICATION CREAT COOL DESIGN TRAINING BLUE BEE ART (2005-2011 (1988-1989) Loremolor samet, consecteturang sed do Best Designer of 2010 Winner of Euro Design 2009 AWARDS Best Creative Designer 2008 Winner-National Design Competition 2006 Winner Ad
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Resume.

    Photo is a representation of scenes.

  • My company has been trying to hire another person for our department for months. The job keeps getting reposted and I got curious whether anyone was actually hearing back from HR.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157
  • Instead of asking like a normal person, I decided to apply myself using a fake name and a throwaway email.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157

    Even though it may sound stupid, I actually understand his train of thought for choosing to apply instead of just asking. Some companies have everything on autopilot, and HR people are not always actually going through all the resumes they receive (I have friends in HR who have admitted this to me, but if anyone asks, I didn't tell you anything). Some applications get automatically rejected because of formatting errors that have nothing to do with the applicant's actual abilities, but no one is ever going to tell an employee that to his face. His wanting to check the actual hiring process for himself was risky, but it could have been the only way to get an honest answer. 

  • I used an older version of my resume, changed a few details and submitted it. My plan was to see how long it took to get a rejection or an interview invitation.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157
  • What I completely forgot was that the resume included a link to my portfolio.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157
  • My actual portfolio. With my real name, my photo and the company I currently work for listed right at the top.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157
  • The recruiter apparently clicked it, recognized me and contacted my manager asking why an existing employee was submitting applications under another identity.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157

    Hey, at least the recruiter was the one actually doing the recruiting. That's got to count for something, right? Congratulations to this guy for landing at one of the last few companies in the world whose HR team actually reviews resumes instead of asking a machine to do it for them. At least he can be certain that, if he got a job there, someone else thought he was actually qualified for it. 

    Now, about the portfolio thing… I want to go easy on him for forgetting about it, but come on! That was a rookie mistake. If you're going to be deceitful, be deceitful till the end. And, please, just make sure you don't leave a trace. He took the time to put together a fake resume, change his photo, use a fake email address… all of it to be caught on the portfolio link. That was some excellent investigative work thrown in the trash because of getting distracted. 

  • Got called into a meeting this morning and had to explain the entire thing. Somehow saying I wanted to test our recruitment process sounded even worse out loud.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157
  • My manager wasn't amused. He said I'd wasted the recruiter's time and made it look like I was secretly investigating the company.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157
  • Cheezburger Image 10675325952
    via Vitaly Gariev for Unsplash+

    The not-so-amused manager.

    Not actual story subject.

  • Now HR wants to have a conversation with me about it on Friday. I'm not getting fired or anything, but I genuinely cannot believe I created an HR issue for myself out of pure curiosity.
    via u/Maleficent-Math-157
  • Another tunes
    via Rodeo Project Management Software for Unsplash+

    HR meeting.

    Stock photography for depiction only. 

  • fernofry If there's been a vacancy for months in the current job market then doing a "mystery shop" on the company seems valid. Don't be apologetic, by angry that they haven't filled the position. If they try any kind of disciplinary action, threaten to leave them with another vacancy.
    via fernofry
  • Everything you did was in the best interest of your team. At best, you wasted 2 minutes of the recruitment team's time. They wasted more by dragging you into HR meetings.
    via fernofry
  • Shroomstarz I mean, hey, at least you got to find out that they DO, in fact, check resumes and whatnot
    via Shroomstarz
  • Fegor224422 No f If you can eliminate all evidence and witnesses, you can still get out of this.
    via Fegor224422
  • Mach5Driver You let your intrusive thoughts win and your thinky thoughts lose. Just be honest, apologize to all involved and promise to just stick with your actual job.
    via Mach5Driver

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workplace-stories jobs employee hr manager job work workplace resume Reddit company
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