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Background check

background check Job offer
New answer on Dec 31, 2021
9 Answers
1.6 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Oct 24, 2020

Morning,

Yesterday, I received an offer from an MBB for an entry-level position within my region. However, I am worried about the background check. In order to avoid question as to why there was a gap between changing jobs, I made the dates fit. For instance, at one job I worked from Jan 2017 to Jan 2018 (my contract expired so I couldn’t stay for longer as signing a new one would've meant staying one more year) and I started my next job in Apr 2018. My resumes indicates that I worked for this company starting Feb 2018. Could my offer be rescinded because of this?

Thanks

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Robert
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Oct 24, 2020
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author

Hi Anonymous,

This is subject to the recruiter's evaluation - there is no clear uniform rule on that.

My best guess is that you will get away with it (with a big portion of luck they won't even check exactly this detail...), since obviously you are a great fit otherwise surviving all interviews.

Apart from that better not mis-represent anything in future once your are inside the firm - won't be good for you.

Hope this helps - if so, please give it a thumbs-up with the upvote button below!

Robert

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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Oct 26, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

There are no clear rules for that, I don´t think a month is going to be a deal-breaker (but it´s not a good thing that they catch you lying so quickly).

In any case, what can you do? Just wait for them to come back and only if so think of a strategy. Perhaps this is not even a problem.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

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Adi
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Oct 24, 2020
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience

Hi there,

I am going to be harsh and state the obvious- you have lied in the CV, so you must accept the consequences with grace. You got the offer (well done for that) , so clearly you did well in the interviews. Although, I sincerely hope this doesnt turn out to be a deal breaker for you and I have never heard any offers being revoked because of this. But you never know.

Its totally fine to have small gaps in CV as long you have a good story to justify the gap. In the grand scheme of things employers wont even bother if you perform well in the interviews. But never repeat this again and do not ask anyone to lie on your behalf!

Also, I assume you have only made the dates fit ONCE in the CV?!

Adi

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Gaurav
Expert
Content Creator
updated an answer on Oct 25, 2020
Ex-Mckinsey|Certified Career Coach |Placed 500+ candidates at MBB & other consultancies

Hi A,

Of course, you should not have done that. Why didn't you just explain the reasons you had this gap? There would be no harm in telling the truth.

Actually, they can rescind your offer because telling a lie is a good reason for that. Hopefully, this is not going to be the case, and you won't get any problems.

But for the future: always tell the truth even if you are not very comfortable with it. Later you won't worry that anyone can find it out.

Cheers, Gaurav

(edited)

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Francesco
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Content Creator
replied on Oct 25, 2020
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

Congrats on your offer! Although it is possible to rescind an offer if you report something untrue in your CV, it is very unlikely to happen in your case given it is a 2-month gap only.

I agree with the other comments that it’s not an issue to have a small gap between jobs, so just keep it in the future for other applications.

Best,
Francesco

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Ken
Expert
replied on Oct 24, 2020
Ex-McKinsey final round interviewer | Executive Coach

Congrats on your offer! Background check really depends by office but I have never heard of someone's offer being revoked to their work experience being off by months (especially at entry level where you are most often not being hired for your prior work experience)... Assuming this is the only concern then you should be fine!

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Ian
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Content Creator
replied on Oct 24, 2020
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

To be honest this isn't great. It's probably (hopefully) not a dealbreaker though.

You really should never do this again - always assume you will be questioned and that the truth can be found out.

Technically, the offer could be rescinded because of this. However, I doubt it would be...especially if this is the only lie...2 months isn't terrible, but it is noticeable.

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Henning
Expert
replied on Oct 25, 2020
Bain | passed >15 MBB interviews as a candidate

Hi Anonymous,

congrats for the offer. The problem is you have subjectively lied on the CV. If this comes to light, the company would have the legal grounds to revoke the offer. I doubt they will do so for 2 months, but either way, the stress you're going through now should be lesson for you for the future.

To avoid this issue entirely, you could either just provide years (more suitable for older candidates in a later stage of their career admittedly) or just stand up for your decisions. A gap of 2 months is certainly nothing that a company would reject a candidate for, so why not be open about the fact that you travelled for 2 months or needed some time off to get clearity about your next steps?

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Pedro
Expert
replied on Dec 31, 2021
30% off in March 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

It's unlikely, but it's something to avoid. 

It doesn't have much relevance, but it's not completely immaterial, it's obvious you were trying to hide a gap in your resume - it's not a relevant gap, to be honest, but you tried to hide it.

Having said this, I find it very unlikely that they will rescind your offer because of this or that it will even be an issue.

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