Employment Status

Question

Hello,

I was laid off from my previous job and, out of insecurity about being unemployed, I told the recruiter during the initial HR screening that I was still employed. In reality, my employment had ended about two weeks earlier.

I passed the HR screen and the assessment, and I’m now entering the interview rounds.

I’m struggling with how to handle this going forward:

Do I simply continue interviewing and discuss my previous work in the past tense?
What if an interviewer asks, “What are you working on now?” or asks about a current project because HR believes I’m still employed?
If I get an offer and they ask when I can start or ask for my employment dates, do I proactively correct what I said, or only address it if asked?
Is there any way to recover from this without creating a bigger problem?

Thank you !

Answer 1

Hello,

That sounds like a stressful situation and I am sorry to hear that.

You should not lie during interviews, but you also do not need to raise this proactively. If asked, say that you have just left. If not asked, speak in the past tense about past experiences in your job.

That being said, I do not think that this will create issues for you during interviews, as interviewers are more interested in what you have to say about yourself and how you solve their questions..

Let me know if you need help prepping for your current interview process by the way :)