Young Aussie lies on her application to get a job – but it quickly became her biggest mistake

A young worker has revealed the drastic step she took to land a job while studying away from her family in a major city.

Scarlett Frazer was an 18-year-old university student in Melbourne, desperate for flexible income.

The teenager decided to ask a family friend to act as a fake reference on her resume.

‘Someone had told me about temp reception work, which is basically you go to a different company every single day,’ Ms Frazer said in a video on Tuesday.

‘My entire life, my parents had owned a finance company, so I basically grew up in their business. I went there after school every single day, sat with their receptionist, did my colouring in at her desk.

‘I thought, “How hard could this job be?”.

The receptionist working for her parents’ company agreed to help, giving Ms Frazer ‘such a glowing fake review that the temp agency could not hire me fast enough’.

Ms Frazer was told the way to get shifts was to wake early on her free days and call the agency to see if any had become available. 

But she was given no training, since she had falsely claimed to already have years of experience. 

Scarlett Frazer (pictured) told her audience about lying on her resume when she was 18, only for it to end up in disaster

Within just two days, Ms Frazer was offered a one-day shift with ‘one of the biggest corporate law firms in the city’.

‘This particular firm was so big, it actually had two receptionists on duty at all times, so I’d be working alongside another receptionist. I was really pumped,’ she said.

‘I wasn’t nervous at all for some reason I thought, “It’s gonna be so easy”.’

However, the day quickly began to spiral with Ms Frazer deciding to try navigating the city’s tram network for the first time. 

‘I got on the completely wrong tram. I’m in the middle of nowhere and I’m like, “Okay, I’m already running really late now. I’m just gonna order an Uber”,’ she said.

‘I came from a small town so I didn’t even realise if you order an Uber in peak hour, it is a nightmare. It takes two hours to get anywhere.

‘So, I have to call up my manager at the temp firm and tell her that I’m going to be an hour late to my first ever job she’s ever given me and she I’ve literally never been abused on the phone so much.’

Ms Frazer said she was ‘fully tearing up in the back of an Uber’ and expected to situation would only get worse once she arrived at the firm. 

Ms Fraser recalled being thrown around to different jobs – at one point even being asked to set up dishes for meetings – but failing at every point

‘They were actually so nice about it at the law firm. They did not seem upset that I was one hour late, they were just very grateful for someone to be there to fill in for the role,’ she said.

‘I get sat at the reception desk and I’m side by side with the other receptionist who’s in her 50s.

‘Printed out on my keyboard is a list of like all of my tasks for the day on top of answering the phone.

‘This is where I was so wrong. It’s not as simple as literally just picking up the phone. There’s a whole switchboard and you have to transfer calls and it’s very complicated.’

Ms Frazer quickly realised reception work wasn’t ‘as easy as it looks’ and did her best to start working her way through the list. 

‘A lot of them are based around these complicated systems. Obviously the temp agency had told the law firm that I was used to using these systems and had used them at my previous job, which didn’t exist,’ she said.

‘I’m trying to Google how to use the system discreetly so the other receptionist doesn’t see and catch on, and the other receptionist could tell that I seemed really flustered.’

Recruitment expert Roxanne Calder warned job seekers against ‘blad-faced lies’ on resumes as it could result in being ‘blacklisted’

The other receptionist asked Ms Frazer to set up dishes for upcoming meetings, which also ended in disaster with the teenager dropping several glasses.

Fortunately, the other receptionist was incredibly patient with her and took her back to the main desk to show her some different tasks.

Ms Frazer believes her saving grace was the kindness she showed her co-worker during the disastrous shift. 

‘Afternoon rolls around and I am making conversation, I’m complimenting her jewelry, asking about her marriage, everything, pulling out all the stops,’ she said.

‘She opens up to me about her messy divorce and obviously we’re building enough of a repertoire now that she feels comfortable enough with me.

‘She says, “Look, I’m never supposed to smoke on this job but will you cover for me if I go out and like have a few smoke breaks?” I was like, “Girl, do what you need to do”.

‘We’re best friends now, even though I literally did nothing all day except for shatter glasses and cause more problems than I was worth.’

The co-worker ended up giving Ms Frazer a ‘glowing review’, which resulted in her getting more receptionist shifts during which she slowly learned the reigns of the job.

However, she warned others against following in her footsteps and lying on their resume.

‘I can’t even tell you how stressful that day was,’ Ms Frazer said.

‘When I got home I was like, “How do people do corporate life?”

‘That’s why you shouldn’t lie on your resume.’

Recruitment expert Roxanne Calder told News.com.au young people lying on their resume as become increasingly common. 

While ‘everyone embellishes’ on their resumes’, a ‘bald-faced lie’ could result in severe career damage.

‘It can get you blacklisted,’ Ms Calder said.

While the recruiter condeeded the chances of getting caught were low, she revealed several companies will cross-check references with LinkedIn profiles. 

She said that while young people need to ‘use everything you possibly can to get your foot in the door’, lying isn’t the answer.

Ms Calder added some job seekers who approached her company had even tried to pass off lies as AI mistakes. 

‘It isn’t that people are directly lying. They’ll blame ChatGPT for being incorrect,’ she said.

‘They haven’t even bothered to read the resume. It floors me.’