I lied on my resume about a degree I never finished and have been working in my field for three years on the back of it
I am posting this because I have been waiting for it to catch up with me for three years and the waiting is almost worse than getting caught would be.
When I was twenty two I dropped out of university one semester before finishing my degree. It was not academic failure, I just fell apart personally during that last year, a combination of things I will not get into, and I never went back to complete it. I always told myself I would finish eventually. I have not.
When I started applying for jobs in my mid twenties I was competing against people with completed degrees and I was not getting responses. So I made a decision that took about thirty seconds and has followed me every day since. I changed my resume to say I had graduated. I picked a graduation year that made sense with my timeline and I submitted the application.
I got the job. They did not verify. A lot of companies do not, I have learned, especially for mid level roles where your portfolio and interview performance speak louder than the paperwork.
I have been in my field for three years now. I am good at what I do, I genuinely believe that, and my work has been recognized more than once. But none of that changes the fact that I got through the door with a lie and everyone who hired me made that decision based on something that was not true.
Every time a new HR process rolls out or a company wide background check is mentioned in a meeting I feel my stomach drop. I have a plan for what I will say if it ever comes up and I have rehearsed it more times than I can count. The plan is not good. There is no good plan.
I am sorry to everyone who applied honestly for the same roles and did not get them. I do not know how to fix what I did but I know it was wrong and I have known that every single day since I pressed send on that first application.