This story is about a university dropout who faked his graduation date to land a job — and accidentally built an entire career on it.
I was desperate. An unemployed university drop out, I ignored the bright sunshine streaming in through my window, and stared at yet another rejection email. I stared at my laptop screen for an hour and the thought came back to me again. I tweaked my resume – just one line.
I added that my graduation date was in six months for the right degree for the job. It felt like a small lie in a big crisis. Just a tweak. Just to survive.
But that one stretch of truth landed me a job. Then a career. Then… a version of myself I never thought I’d become. I actually got the job.
That day, I chose survival over honesty. One small lie ended up changing everything — including who I became.
That was seven years ago.
Since then, I’ve worked very hard and earned promotions twice and now lead a team of nine people and three interns. I have experience handling everything from client meetings to the final project deliverables.
No one’s ever questioned my qualifications because I could deliver results.
Honestly? I got involved in everything to learn as fast as I could so I wouldn’t get tripped up by not knowing something my resume (and fake degree) said I should know. I don’t think I could’ve gotten the job otherwise. I had the skills, just not the paper. And that one line — that tiny lie — opened a door I could never seem to unlock before.
The Fear of Discovery.
I was scared of getting found out. Every personal HR email made my heart skip a beat, sweat break out on my forehead and my hands tremble. Every time there was talk of “employee audits” or “file reviews,” I’d tense up.
I lived with a quiet anxiety that one day, it would all come crashing down.
But here’s the thing: I was always capable. I just needed someone to believe it. And somewhere along the way, I became that person I was pretending to be.
An Email from HR.
It finally happened: January of 2024. A normal Tuesday, I got an email from HR with the subject line: “Verification Exercise: Employee Records Update – Immediate Action Required.”
Apparently, due to some new ISO compliance push, they were running a full background check on pandemic hires — especially hires from before 2020 and during the pandemic.
My stomach dropped. I just sat there staring at the email, frozen. For hours. And then I did something I never thought I’d do. I would come clean, and tell my boss the truth. The moment they followed through, they would find out anyway.
My Gamble.
My matsalleh boss had always been focused on results and outcomes, not so much on how I got them. I figured my gamble was a win-win for me: I would either somehow keep my job, or lose my anxiety and dread.
I did expect the worst outcome. But my boss sighed and leaned back in his chair. He gave me that slow nod of understanding, and said: “Honestly? I knew.”
He told me I had aced the interview and the skills assessment, so he had done his due diligence – it was an email and a phone call. But he had seen something else during that interview: Ability.
“You proved you could either do the work or could learn on your own how to do it when you passed the skill assessment. That’s what mattered.”
Just a formality.
He explained that the entire exercise was HR formality to tick off boxes on a checklist somewhere. Senior management wasn’t going to rock the boat and they were not going to flag or check those who had proven track records of success.
I walked out of that meeting stunned. Not fired. Not exposed. Just… relieved. I diverted to the pantry to make myself a cup of coffee. Hot. Black. And for some reason, it was the sweetest thing that I’ve tasted. Ever.
Re-enrolling.
Maybe a month later, I emailed my old university, asked if I could re-enroll, part-time with night or online the university. Asked if I could re-enroll — part-time, online. No fuss. They said yes.
So I started studying again. Quietly, while still working full-time. I’ll be graduating in about a year, having earned the degree I once lied about. It’s not about proving anything or showing off. It’s just so that I finally feel whole.
I don’t plan to attend graduation, I don’t need the cap or the gown or the walk across the stage. Let the really graduating have that. I graduated years ago, remember? I have the paperwork now — and this time, it’s legit.
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