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I recently interviewed for a job in the UK and actually made it through the interview stage (which I didn’t expect, so that part is great). But here’s the issue…

When I was tailoring my CV for this role, I edited it pretty heavily to match the job description. In the process, I accidentally removed one of my previous roles, and that seems to have thrown off the dates across a few other positions.

The problem is, it’s not a small difference:

One role that was about 9 months now looks like 2 years Another that was around 6 months shows as 1 year So overall, multiple roles ended up with incorrect durations

I genuinely didn’t notice at the time (I know… not great), and I already went through the interview using that version.

Now I’m stressing about what happens next:

If they do reference checks, the dates won’t match If HR compares documents later, it might look like I intentionally inflated my experience

I feel like I did well in the interview, which makes this even more frustrating because now I’m worried this could mess things up.

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  • Not every employer bothers to take up references or check them against the CV. It will depend a lot on the nature of the job and of the company. And your tolerance for risk. Maybe some people can give industry-specific advice. Commented 18 hours ago
  • I see you tagged this "background check", is there one? In my experience it'd be a bit unusual to verify specific employment dates down to the month, unless there's some more obvious mistake like claiming 5 years' experience in the space of 1 year. But the details might matter more if there is a formal background check for a sensitive job, depending on the field. Commented 18 hours ago
  • Did the dates you mention include months (e.g. January 2024 - December 2025) or just years (2024 - 2025)? In the first case you are actually misrepresenting things. In the latter case it's open to interpretation. Commented 18 hours ago
  • @jcaron: I believe you meant to say dec 2024-jan 2025? Commented 18 hours ago
  • @OlivierDulac Nope. If the "real" dates were Dec 2024-Jan 2025 and OP put that in the resume then it definitely wouldn't be a problem. If they wrote 2024-2025 it's ambiguous but they can defend it. If they actually wrote Jan 2024 - Dec 2025 then it's definitely false. Commented 18 hours ago

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Contact the company, say oops, apologize for not proofreading more carefully, and give them the correct dates.

If the correction comes from you, they can set it aside with just a slight ding for your not being more careful. If they find it themselves, they may suspect you are actively lying to them. I think it's pretty obvious which of these is better for you.

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    Totally right. Being error-free would have been better. But showing them that you are willing to expose yourself to them, and be forthcoming when you learn about a problem, will look better than if they find it on their own without your prior communication. The communication might cost you the job. But it also might not. And then if you get hired, you're safe. If you get hired under false pre-tenses and never speak up, they might never notice. But if they do, that could easily be grounds for termination (maybe at a time when you were thinking you're stable). 'tis now the time to fess up Commented yesterday

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