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‘Once you lie, trust is gone’: Founder shares hiring reality check after candidate alters experience letter
A founder revealed that a candidate was rejected after a background check exposed an edited experience letter.
A hiring experience shared by a company founder on X has reignited a long running debate around honesty, career breaks and trust in recruitment. The post, written by a man identified as Rishabh Harish, described how a newly hired candidate was found to have edited his experience letter during the background verification process.
In his post, Harish wrote, “Hiring reality check. We hired a candidate, and during the background check, found he had edited his experience letter. Not the first time I’ve seen this. Fake certificates, exaggerated roles, and then lying when caught.” He added that what surprised him most was that the candidate could have simply explained a career break. “He could’ve just said he took a break. We would’ve understood. But once you lie, trust is gone,” he said, warning that dishonesty can later extend to work, customers or money, something no company can risk.
Take a look here at the post:
Online reactions
The post quickly drew attention online, crossing more than 6 thousand views and prompting a wide range of reactions from users. One user argued that candidates often lie due to fear of rejection, saying, “People lie because companies discriminate heavily against breaks. Unluckily they found a fake upstanding like you. If the candidate is good, ignore it. There is heavy discrimination in market. Understand his PoV.”
Another user wrote, “Most people lie somewhere in the hiring dance on resumes, in job ads, in interviews. Lying isn’t the real sin, getting caught is. Your job if you lie, be precise, if you’re hiring, verify everything.”
Others strongly supported the founder’s stance on ethics and trust. One response read, “Hard truth. Skills can be trained, gaps can be explained but integrity is non negotiable.” Echoing a similar sentiment, another user said, “Trust is the foundation of any team. Once broken at entry level, it rarely recovers.”
Another comment pointed to systemic issues while drawing a clear line, stating, “The system punishes honesty about gaps, but falsifying documents crosses a line.”
HT.com has reached out to the user for his comments, and the copy will be updated once her response is received.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
