Resume lies lands woman in jail

Apr 12 2010 by Brian Amble Print This Article

If you're tempted to lie on your resume to land that all-too hard to find job (and something between a third and half of us are happy to do just that), here's a salutary story from the UK that might make you think twice.

29-year-old Rhiannon Mackay, lied about her qualifications and made up references to land a job as a Health Service administrator. But when suspicions were raised about her performance, she admitted lying on her CV and forging the references.

She also admitted using the same fake CV to apply for 11 other jobs "because she felt she was not busy enough at work".

The surprise here isn't that she lost the job. It's that she was prosecuted for forgery and fraud and jailed for six months.

While Mackay is the first woman jailed in Britain over CV lies, she's not the first former NHS staff member. Last year a former NHS senior manager received a three months sentence after it was revealed he had vastly exaggerated his degree qualifications.