Company falsifies my resume for a project 5

[wildbill74u2]

i recently discovered that management has "doctored" my resume claiming i have experience on a certain application of which i do not. they have included projects that i have never worked on and the project that i did work on they included this application which again never took place. i was not notified of this, i happened to stumble across it. we have secured this project based on resume which is untruthful. i haven't said anything to anyone other than family at this point. what should i do? i am scheduled to work on this project and have no experience. i've recently gotten my engineering license and am afraid of losing it if something goes wrong. Any advice

 

[MiketheEngineer]

You probably need to talk to your boss and "suggest" that maybe someone made a mistake in stating your qualifications.

See how he reacts and go from there.

Walk softly....

 

[MikeHalloran]

Be careful of using words that suggest intentional deception.

You might ask the boss when your accelerated premium training on the application starts.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[wildbill74u2]

i think it was misleading. i haven't mentioned that i know to my boss. not sure if i should do nothing, i need to get training since the project starts in march. i am confident in my abilities but i also need to know the basics. it also bothers me that i am working for someone who is dishonest. my brother (eng also) says that it happens all the time.

 

[IRstuff]

I agree that you should bring it up as if it were an unintended typographical error,

"Oh, I found this error in my resume. I should either get some training to match the error, or make sure that it's removed so that no one gets the wrong idea about my qualifications."

It's unclear whether you have sufficient evidence to to lay any culpability on anyone. I've seen tech writers do some truly annoying things during proposal edits.



TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[patprimmer]

I would be very careful about calling my boss a lier unless I was prepared to be fired for it.

I like Mikes idea, but play it carefully.

How did you find out. Does knowing indicate you looked somewhere you had no business looking and could that lead to retribution in its own right.

If knowing it is legitimate, rather than accusing, express concerns that you may be a bit out of your depth and may need training and guidance to live up to his promises to the customer.

Do not sign off on any work unless you are truly qualified to do so and you are confident it is according to codes AND safe.

Regards
Pat
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[msquared48]

This sounds like the perfect example of one of Murphy's laws in that people are promoted to their level of ineptitude.

No offense intended here, but maybe you should take a copy of the resume you gave your employer before you were hired, and the one you discovered, and ask for a raise. You obviously were promoted and had no knowledge of it.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[MiketheEngineer]

M^2 -

Always thinking MONEY$$ and I like that !!!

 

[Ron]

If you are a licensed engineer in the US, most state laws consider overstatement of qualifications to be a violation of state law. Further, it is an ethical violation in most disciplines of engineering.

My guess is that your boss is not licensed or the marketing department has no concept of your obligations as a licensed engineer.

As others have noted, you will have to tread lightly, but also, you must correct this. You are obligated to do so.

I would suggest that you go to your boss and suggest that during the crunch of the proposal preparation, that the typing group apparently mixed up your resume with someone else's resume. Suggest to him that you think it needs to be corrected. Be nice and not antagonistic. If he blows it off as just a marketing ploy, start looking for another job.

If he say take care of it then expect him to do so. In either case, memorialize your observation in a memo to him. This will preserve your objection to the process. Just simply say something like this in the memo:

Boss...we discussed the resume discrepancy issue today for the XYZ project and as discussed, I would like to get it corrected before we move forward. Thanks for listening.

 

[casseopeia]

1. Find out where you can get training for the application, including the cost.

2. Get all of your facts straight about the legality and print out the back up for your position.

3. Go to your boss and tell him about the error you found without making accusations of intentional deception, or whatever.

4. Suggest that you be put into the training program for the application as soon as possible (at the company's expense, including your pay).

5. If you boss balks, tell him you are just trying to keep him from getting in trouble with the licensing board and then start looking for a new job.

Work is tough right now and I'm sure there is a tremendous temptation to bend the rules when vying for projects. But if all you need is a training course to come up to speed, it might not be so bad. IDK, my boss sent out an SOQ a couple of weeks ago and sent an email to all employees asking if anyone had any experience on a particular type of project. As it turns out, I did, but it was 10-11 years ago. I told him what I could recall about the projects, which wasn't much, and he had marketing put that in the SOQ. Then he got a call about a week later from the potential Client wanting the exact names of the developments and other people involved. So don't let your boss think that no one will notice. In my case, I am surprised they checked. I managed to find the information they wanted using Google since I had long purged the projects from my own resume and couldn't take the time to hunt down my old timesheets in my storage locker.

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump

 

[bridgebuster]

It’s not called lying; it’s called repositioning the truth. (The Publican is probably thinking, “What else would you expect from that Republican?” :-0)

I agree with Ron completely. After all, you’re not lying to the boss; you're just repositioning the truth.

Ron – You’re the second engineer I’ve come across in 30+ years in this business to use the word “memorialize.”

 

[patprimmer]

I also strongly agree with Ron, however I would make one comment. To date the OP has not even given a clue as to his location as far as jurisdiction goes.

bridgebuster

The OP never lied in his resume, his boss did.

Regards
Pat
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[bridgebuster]

Pat,

Repositioning the truth; it's a joke. I guess I'll never be a wit like Oscar Wilde. I'll just have to settle for half-wit.

 

[Ron]

BB...

Ron – You're the second engineer I've come across in 30+ years in this business to use the word "memorialize."

....just a bad result of being around too many lawyers for the past 30+ years!!

 

[Comcokid]

"repositioning the truth"

Wow, I don't care which side of the Atlantic you're on, this sounds like an argument a politician would use.

But, then again, it's an indirect, and smoother way of pointing out a lie.

-What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet - Shakesphere