An honest CV is worth its weight in gold – because these are the consequences of lying in the application process

Instead of four years of professional experience in the position desired by the potential employer, there are only two, instead of the required doctorate, it is only a diploma or master’s degree, and there was actually no certificate for the last job – one or the other comes up with that Thoughts of beautifying one’s qualifications or even falsifying relevant documents entirely. After all, business psychology studies such as those by the University of Osnabrück from 2013 have found that people with management experience are not necessarily better suited than everyone else for a position at the top of the hierarchy.

What is a lie, what is still positive formulation?

Nevertheless, excessive embellishments on the CV, such as lies or even falsification of documents, should be avoided – HR managers are trained to uncover such facts. And that can have serious consequences.

But where is the line between a harmless exaggeration and an inappropriate lie or falsification?

It is important that a deliberate misrepresentation is not decisive for the acceptance of the application: Because if a lie or even the falsification of a document, which was decisive for the acceptance, comes to light after the new employee has joined, then according to § 123 BGB it is a fraudulent act deception.

The employer may contest the employment contract on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentation, which can lead to termination without notice even after the probationary period has expired.

Criminal prosecution of counterfeits

If the employer challenges the contract on the basis of fraudulent misrepresentation, the court decides not only on the termination of the employee without notice, but also on a possible payment of damages or repayment of the salary by the same. Even after a short employment relationship, this can lead to very high sums that the terminated employee owes the employer.

Penalties for forged certificates or documents can be particularly high – because this is a forgery of certificates/documents according to § 267 StGB, which, depending on the severity, can also lead to a fine or even to imprisonment of up to five years.

alternative to fining

Since honesty is always the best basis, it is advisable to refrain from “harmless” finings. They can be replaced by phrases like: “The brief insight I got into working with […] motivates me a lot to familiarize myself intensively with the subject at my next job.” Or: “Although my experience with […] is not yet developed, I have always enjoyed working in this area. I’m looking forward to developing my skills in it.”

With these words, an applicant signals honesty and openness as well as the motivation to try and get involved in the new job. This is usually well received by HR managers – and the applicant is not faced with any tasks in the new job that he may not be able to cope with.

Editorial office finanzen.net

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