I have really messed up and lied about two of my A level grades on my CV. I am now at the second round stage with a few mid-tier firms as an experienced hire and am becoming increasingly unsure about what to do. Will this be part of a routine background check or should I just withdraw from the process now?

Not a good idea, but what's done is done. Chance that they don't confirm it. Deal with the flack if they do... there's probably no going back, not that I condone having fibbed.

It's never a good idea to start on a lie. Granted, A-Levels are perhaps small potatoes when it comes to lies on the CV, but I see two key points here:1) If at any point it comes out then they would be perfectly within their rights to sack you. The chances would get lower as the time went on, but nevertheless - do you really want to spend the rest of your career with the firm based upon a lie?2) Your professional integrity is clearly rather weak if you lie on a CV. It's one thing to exagerate, it's another to lie. Some wry cards would no doubt say that lying to get into a Consultancy is the best qualification for the industry - but personally one of the most important points I value in a colleague is trust and professional integrity. It's also worrying that you are questioning not whether you have a moral obligation to withdraw because what you did was wrong, but "will they find out?"I should also point out that since you are at the second round stage they most likely screened you on your A-level results. This means that you might very well have taken the place of someone who could have made the quota. So not only are you recklessly pursuing your own career based upon a miserable web of deceit, with no remorse and not an ounce of professional or humanitarian decency, but you are also depriving someone of what would possibly be their dream job.Rethink, withdraw and update your CV...!

I have three times had to produce A level and degree certificates after joining a firm, so don't rely on having dodged screening.. There's little point lying in any case for mid tier - I currently have on my desk a CV from a consultant at a Big 4 firm who has just two A levels at grade B and a 2:2 from a former poly....

Oops indeed. I'm afraid I'm with Billum on this. On multipe occassions I've been asked to provide sight of all certificates AFTER I've joined the firm. There is every possibility of being fired during your probation period (that's what it's there for).The real risk is that if you are fired for lying, it will be impossible to explain the incident away when you hit the interview trail again!You've dropped a clanger here and no mistake. best you withdraw with no harm done.

lol, asked after you joined? why? lies about your degree are worse imo.

..of course at this time of year the other option is to quickly resit your A levels and hope you get the grades you claimed!

If you have told a lie that materially would have affected your being taken on they can fire you even after your probation period ends.And even if they can't fire you your reputation would be worthless.

Definately pull out. You've made your mistake and now's the time to suck it up.If your mistake catches up with you the repersussions as Mr Cool suggest shall be far severer and possibly irreversable.

I agree with Mr Cool also. I am asked on a twice daily basis for copies of my A-level certificates... But then I do work at PA....

i can just see u sat there sweatin ur azz off wiv a copy of fotoshop lolz

I will not suggest pulling out at this stage. What is done is done.Get in, be applying for other roles and if they ask for your cert then resign without showing it.That way you can see if they would ask, they can not prove anything and you can always claim you hated the culture of the firm (at future interviews) that is why you quit.Don't pull out, ride it out. If they employ you after several interviews and case studies, it proves you can do the job, they are just being anal and pompous about school grades.

Thanks for all of the advice. Plenty of food for thought. If I pull out now, do the honourable thing and amend my CV without telling the firms the real reason - will they consider me in the future? Or will I have burned my bridges?

OP you are right to be worried as if they check your results you are shown up but bear this in mind; the nature of writing consulting proposals involves being both creative and complimentery regarding the skills of your available resources vs the stated requirements.The translation of this from consulting back to English is this: consultancies lie through their teeth on a daily basis when trying to sell generalists into specialist roles and most of the time they get away with it. This means that allthough you should't have lied on your cv ( I certainly didn't when I applied, as for client proposals, no comment...) it's not as if the firm has the moral high ground. So sit tight and say nothing.

here's an option - send in a new version of your CV with a noticeably updated skills & experience profile to justify it (eg latest project added), requesting that they take this as their reference copy. you will of course also have updated your A level results...

Or excuse the error by blaming a CV preparing company (or sole operator who convincingly is not returning calls) and they obvious made the error not you.Frankly if you are an experienced hire your A level grades are unlikely to influence a decision anyway.

You mentioned you are at the 2nd stage with a 'few' mid-tier firms. I would try what 'Mars A Day' recommended with one of them and see how they react. Hopefully, they are impressed with your performance so far and will also be impressed with your honesty at this stage and let you continue the process.If you get even the slightest indication that being honest has reduced your chances, I would not mention the 'mistake' to the other firms. In this competitive environment it takes very little to undermine your chances.Lie and get in. If they ever ask for your certificates I would follow Big Consultant's recommendation and resign blaming the firm culture

So, that would mean giving up your current job, starting a new one and on day three when an HR bod says, "can you just bring in your certifictaes for us to photocopy for your file", you will respond with "actually in the three days I've been here its become clear that the culture is really poor" at which point you'll resign.?????????????Good luck explaining that to the next firm you then interview with... or perhaps you'll then limit your career only to firms who take up no references at all?Matey, you've made a small mistake - don't compound it with a big one.

Big Consultant - what's anal and pompous about expecting honesty from appilcants? How can interviews and case studies prove you can do the job? It shows you have the potential to do it but who will believe you once they found out you lied about something so basic.

Sorry guys, but I feel the true point is being missed by the majority. This guy or girl has lied on his CV. This means that he is taking the place of someone else who is honest. This honest person - who most likely had lower than expected A-level results might very well have worked hard to achieve in other areas - extra curricular areas - and applied in the hope that they would make a good impresion on the recuiter. Now assuming a quota on the number of applicants invited to a second interview, Anon has quite likely taken the place of an applicant who deserved it.Perhaps I am in the minority - but I see this as fundamentally wrong. Regardless of whether it "matters" to the firm - the basic premise is that Anon has LIED to get a position. What does this say about what he/she will do in the future? It's absolutely disgraceful and if Anon has an ounce of professional integrity he should withdraw now.Even submitting the "correct" CV now - the major point that the first stage - the "selection" stage is passed, has been missed. Someone, maybe one of you guys reading this forum, has NOT reached the second stage because of Anon.This is the sort of attitude that, and I am being totally serious, if widely enough permiated, causes disasters such as Enron. Some may say "well it's only an A-level grade" and tell me to "relax - this is what happens in business". I disagree - and I fundamentally believe that even though stretching the truth, creating an "image" can get you far - we, as Consultancy professionals, should draw the line at a blatant lie.

Personally I'd withdraw. Do you want to know why? It's because I value a good night's sleep. Sods law has it that it's usually the small crap that comes back to haunt you when you least expect it."Oh what a complicated web we weave, when we set out to deceive"

Rich - I am in the same small minority.

I have to say I agree with cynic and others, you should withdraw now.Withdrawing now means you miss out on a few opportunities but haven't done anything that prevents you from pursuing a career in consulting. Only you know that this ever happened and your reputation remains intact.Should a firm or a client of that firm ever find out you've lied about this, there's a high probability of you being out of a job without any notice period. Your inability to secure a reference from your former consulting employer would then be a barrier to you securing a career with any other consulting firm. So get out of this situation now before you risk blowing your prospects of a career in consulting.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

More and more contracts are coming through from public sector and private sector (mainly banks) clients mandating the level of background checks on consultants to be used on their projects. They also include the right to randomly audit the processes and evidence to check. I certainly wouldn't want to be the individual explaining why a client had cancelled our contract or lost trust in us because I had lied about A level grades.This is wrong. The whole point about your first couple of years in an organisation is establishing your credibility and integrity. Starting with none is not a good approach.As a senior consultant, I would not have this individual on one of my projects if I found out they had lied in this way. For all the supporting comments on here the fact is this will have a negative affect on your career if you get found out.

Right now there are probably 20 HR managers of mid-tier consultancies who having read this thread are wondering if the OP is on their short-list.

To the original anon who posted this tale of woe. I suggest you read Mr Cool's last post very very very very carefully.

"Everybody lies" - Dr Gregory HouseThis is a universal truthThis says to me that all of you who are asking him to come clean for simply moral reasons are just hypocritsEven after a few days/weeks of poor sleep your mind will adjust and you will learn to sleep like a baby once again

JTTH - fine words. We do all lie and the impact of being found out depends on the other person's perception of how serious the lie is. Most companies would perceive this as a serious lie. I am no expert on all things legal but this looks like obtaining something by deception and/or fraud. An employer would be within their rights to sack you immediately and could come after you for any money they have paid you.

JTTH - I think this is too simplistic a view. Yes - everyone lies. Lying is a fundamental facet of human nature - the world is quite often a better place because we lie to one another. However I practise my professional life with integrity. I do not lie to get work, I do not lie to get promoted - and I, perhaps naively, do not expect those who work with me to do similar. I do not see this as being hypocritical - I see this as having professional integrity. Anon has displayed a lack of professional integrity and has, if not legally then certainly professionally, committed an act of fraud.Sorry - but this is something I feel very strongly about. Additionally I recall my many applications for my first job - albeit a graduate role - and how frustrating it was to make the grade - how galling it was to make each stage in the interview process. People like Anon make this process harder (and I know this was an experienced hire position) and they create an extra barrier in that process at the expense of others. This is completely unacceptable in my opinion.

I completely agree with Rich, he's making a great deal of sense. This is indeed a serious issue and should be treated as such. As someone that's currently applying (with little luck) for their first graduate consulting role, I find it appalling that people do this to get ahead. What about the rest of us who stayed up studying untill 2am and then got back up at 6:30am in order to achieve the required grades...we're being discounted in favour of people like you? Look in the mirror, make the right decision and you might cling on to any remaining dignity.

Typically, recruitment teams use qualifications/grades as a rough and ready way of sifting grads as they have no other way of judging them. As an experienced hire you have more to offer than evidence of the ability to study and pass an exam.My advice is always be honest about your experience and qualifications.

I should have added to my earlier post that there have been a couple of cases in the last months that received significant press coverage, where NHS managers had secured roles based on falsification of their academics. They've been convicted of fraud and from memory in one case I think were also being pursued financially for damages.These cases were important firstly as they show the ramifications there could be for you from not doing the right thing... and secondly because they put this issue into the limelight and brought it to the attention of many hiring managers (you have been warned).As one of the other commentators remarked, at experienced hire level your other professional experience becomes more important than your early academic results and your lower grades aren't likely to have the same impact they might have if applying for a graduate entry role.Lots of food for thought for you for the weekend.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

I retract my initial post. Pull out now.Considering the amount of attention this forum topic is getting, I'd be suprised if you (and thousands of other candidates) haven't already received an email specifying that you bring ALL your academic transcripts to the next interview.RegardsOops

So what was it then anon? Wonder what you decided to do after considering a mix of replies, althought the weight was clearly much higher towards the quit and retreat idea.FYII don't know how many of you will admit it but my old friend failed 2 modules in his MSc and was given a diploma instead. He joined saying that he had a Masters Degree. And yes, he is still my friend and I am very jealous of him. Doesn't matter directly as he is not into management consulting but in programming.- Curious

Sorry curious, but that says more about you than it does your friend.I think you should disown you friend and cut off any limb with which you have touched him...and you tongue if you have talked to him....and your eyes if you have looked at him.

Many years ago I was one of the first assistant consultants taken on by PW (no C then) - fresh out of a crap poly and with an HND !!!! We were a bit of an experiment - one which worked. I climbed the greasy pole and one day having moved jobs a few times ended up Managing Partner at a major technology consulting company. So for what its worth don't bother raising it this time - if you're any good then you'll be fine and possibly lucky...but when you move jobs don't do it again!

David Clark - you are missing the point entirely. It is not about the quality/level of the education/certificates, it is about the integrity of the individual.

Integrity is just a luxury for those that can afford it. People who spout about integrity are just naive. ...and finally...Integrity goes out the window the second personal gain exceeds a certain level - the 'height of the level' may vary by person but is not infinite for anyone.

Just look at Nick Clegg for a case in point!

personally I'd fill my boots and milk the expenses until when/if you get found out and then re-package it as ingenuity on your next CV!

How do you upset Heather Mills?Nick Clegg.