Two years ago, I wanted a job at a cool tech startup as a new graduate so made up a bunch of internship experience to land it. The lies consisted of pretending to have 1 additional summer internship in corporate strategy and 1 part time during the school year internship in software engineering in their specific tech stack (I actually did the supposed project, but the client was not real).

Back then, I created fake websites for these businesses and put my friend's phone numbers on them so that they would match the references I gave the company. Passed the checks of the startup swimmingly.

I got the job and have enjoyed it for the past two years. However, we just got bought out by a substantially larger company. Are background checks typically redone when one company buys out another?

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    This may be a resume generating event. Take your two years of experience and use it to get a promotion somewhere else with your genuine experience. – ScrumSucks Dec 15 '19 at 3:13
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    @ScrumSucks I'm in awe at the elegance of "resume-generating event"; it's positively Sir Humphrian. – msanford Dec 15 '19 at 4:55
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    Jeebus. Slight embellishment is one thing, going so far as to make fake websites is on an entirely other level. I'd suggest you take a good hard look at how you're going about things. Ultimately, your lies will catch up to you. Hopefully you'll break this character trait before you get into serious trouble. – joeqwerty Dec 15 '19 at 6:11
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    Do you currently maintain the websites? – corsiKa Dec 15 '19 at 19:59
  • @joeqwerty But it does go to show that soft skill internships are materially useless. – Frank Dec 16 '19 at 8:20

It really depends on the company and industry

Defense? Absolutely. Tech? Maybe. Banking? Yes. Construction? Improbable.

Are you a small 10 person startup without formal HR records? Odds go up. Are you a 500 person startup with formal background checks already? Odds go down.

You will need to be prepared for the possibility that they will.

  • Well that is annoying. – lieonresume Dec 15 '19 at 3:02
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    @lieonresume I hate to break it to you, but you should have seen this coming. Can't do the time? Don't do the crime then. – Sourav Ghosh Dec 15 '19 at 6:28
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    @lieonresume, Better re-create those fake web sites again. – Stephan Branczyk Dec 15 '19 at 8:20
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    @lieonresume I would worry less about being annoyed and more about possible criminal charges if this is found out, as the lengths you've gone to are past the common "resume polishing". – Tymoteusz Paul Dec 15 '19 at 8:20
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    This is not true. If bank A acquires bank B they absolutely will not re-background-check everyone in bank B. Nor in defence. If the OP was materially significant to corporate activity like M&A they would not have slipped through the original check. They have done something highly unethical but at this point they have gotten away with it. – Gaius Dec 15 '19 at 14:16

I have been involved in tech acquisitions both on the side of investor and on the side of the tech company.

The process by which the acquiring investor analyses the potential asset is called 'due diligence.' In tech, this process is usually split into three areas: legal, financial and technical. Legal will look into the contracts between the company and its trading partners and various things in that area. Financial will look into the books and make sure nothing is being cooked. The distinction between Financial and Legal is usually blurred. Technical is more about the operations, whether their business idea has a future, etc.

I have never seen anyone look into the resumes of anyone but key individuals. The management team, the directors.

You have a number of things in your favour. 1) Tech acquisitions are these days nearly always about back hand pump and dump get rich quick schemes for the owners and buyer-firm individuals. They grow the company in non-organic debt-driven ways, sell to a larger company who eliminates competition, while everyone involved gets to buy a yacht and live a little richer than they were before. 2) If you are even remotely connected to one of the seller management, eg: if it was the CEO you bullshitted into the position, you will most definitely be asked to shut up while the transaction goes through. If you played your cards right you could even squeeze something out of this, without proposing anything like blackmail of course. 3) Your morality sits very well with most of the people I have ever met involved in company growth and sale. They will respect you for your enterprising attitude.

So, 'just got bought out' means the transaction is still probably ongoing. Shares and performance related bonuses are still in the works. Key management will be on deals like 'you will get your payout if you work 2 years and the company meets these profit targets' etc etc.

My advice: you won't get background checked now because if you were important you would have been checked out during Due Diligence. But make sure you keep your mouth shut for at least 2 years at that company, or take your experience there and make a clean break. EDIT: you having posted this question on a site popular with tech employees rather inclines me to suggest the latter.


Typically, no. For a growing tech startup, again no. I doubt anyone has the time for that kind of thing. And unless you are working on things which could result in harm to others then I doubt there would be a background check especially not one that looks at internships or part time jobs that you lied about.

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