Hey all, I’m looking for some advice on how to approach this situation. Last week I was offered a position and have been asked to submit my info (SSN, last 7 years of employment/housing information) for the background check. It’s a finance-related job (which I can definitely do well) so the background check seems extremely thorough. Due to a large gap on my resume, I stretched out a previous job considerably from when it actually ended - 22 months in fact. I also exaggerated my title on that job and a previous one as well, but not egregiously. Here’s the thing: this former job was in a foreign (English-speaking) country. The background check is with OneSource.

I’ve seen recommendations from other posts to simply input the real dates and titles on the background check paperwork so that I get a “Pass”, as the background check company will not compare these items to my resume, but given the obviously thorough nature of this background check I really don’t want to bank on that - I wouldn’t be surprised if the final report is compared to my resume. It’s either do that and hope for the best, or input the fake dates on the background check as well and try to come up with a reasonable explanation when the new company inevitably asks me about this huge discrepancy - “I was on a contract and they must’ve created a new employee profile when it got renewed!” But then, they’ll surely ask for another form of proof, probably paychecks, and I’m not willing to fudge documentation.

My last option is to reach out to a good friend who works in HR at this former company and ask them to lie for me, but I don’t know if they’ll go for it and that truly is the nuclear option - who knows if they’d even be the ones talking to the background checker anyways, and I don’t want to risk that friendship. What are your thoughts?