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Faking experience

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    Faking experience

    So come on, let's be honest for a little while. What was the time where you best faked experience and got hired and ended up doing a good job?

    Come on, we are all (or we have been) contractors so you must know what I talk about. Luckily we are more clever chaps so we learn in a month more than what an average permie can learn in 2 years.

    But would like to hear stories of how you faked working experience and got away with that, and indeed managed to make the project successful.
    I've seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark, Rome is the light.

    #2
    Originally posted by Francko
    So come on, let's be honest for a little while. What was the time where you best faked experience and got hired and ended up doing a good job?

    Come on, we are all (or we have been) contractors so you must know what I talk about. Luckily we are more clever chaps so we learn in a month more than what an average permie can learn in 2 years.

    But would like to hear stories of how you faked working experience and got away with that, and indeed managed to make the project successful.
    I once removed 15 years' of COBOL from my CV in order to highlight the (authentic) 2 years of C and get the C post that they wouldn't give to a COBOLista. But I don't suppose that's what you meant.

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      #3
      Originally posted by expat
      I once removed 15 years' of COBOL from my CV in order to highlight the (authentic) 2 years of C and get the C post that they wouldn't give to a COBOLista. But I don't suppose that's what you meant.
      Oh well, that's downgrade faking, I had in mind something like upgrade faking, i.e. inventing skills that you don't have or you only had a brief exposure to but pass it as a core competence.
      I've seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark, Rome is the light.

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        #4
        I was put forward for a Notes development job for a bank, the interviewer was on business in europe so we did a telephone interview. He asked me what was the extent of my experience to which I replied 'I read an article once in a magazine'.

        I got the contract...

        I came clean 6 months later at the xmas party and he did mention that they got slightly worried when on my first day I asked where the manuals were kept.

        Finished the job to everyone's satisfaction but this sure ain't the only time I've resorted to bulltulip to get the job.
        Me, me, me...

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          #5
          a friend of mine once got a job as a buyer for a tea company because he told them he was "interested in tea"

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            #6
            I once told a client I'm a .NET guru when in reality I change backup tapes all day.

            Milan.

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              #7
              Originally posted by DimPrawn
              I once told a client I'm a .NET guru when in reality I change backup tapes all day.

              Milan.

              ...
              SA says;
              Well you looked so stylish I thought you batted for the other camp - thats like the ultimate compliment!

              I couldn't imagine you ever having a hair out of place!

              n5gooner is awarded +5 Xeno Geek Points.
              (whatever these are)

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                #8
                Originally posted by DimPrawn
                I once told a client I'm a .NET guru when in reality I change backup tapes all day.
                I thought they all started like this.
                I've seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark, Rome is the light.

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                  #9
                  Once got a 500/day contract for 2 weeks because I was the only one on the agent's database who new what the acronym 'GLDI' stood for! I didn't know how it worked, but still finished the work on the second day as it turned out they were using the wrong tnsnames file! Duh! Then spent the rest of the time writing* the manual. They were suitably impressed.
                  *Copy and paste from the real thing.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by LGDT
                    Gone from dead in the water mainframe COBOL mainframe to .NET guru in 12 months. Self-taught with a six week intensive course which cost me £6500.

                    Would never have stood a chance of getting a contract without blagging some experience. About to start my 4th .NET gig on Monday and the phone rings off the hook most days.

                    Doesn't really matter so long as you can back up the blagging with decent productivity and quality of work.
                    Well done that man!

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