Remote worker shares ingenious trick to deal with recruiters who ask for reference from current boss

Everybody can use a little help when they are new to the job-seeking phase of their life after finishing their college time. Thankfully, there are plenty of TikTok and social media creators giving out useful information and helping out novice job seekers for free with their videos. Kayy, who goes by @thewfhgrl, has made several videos to guide people through the complex and at times, confusing process of finding a job.

Kayy herself is a remote worker who has a lot of expertise in giving resume services to those who want it. She has shared the latest tip on how to trick recruiters with fake references to bag entry-level jobs when you have no prior work experience to share. The video swiftly went viral and amassed over 100,000 views on TikTok. In the video, Kayy explains how to handle a potential employer if they ask to speak with your current supervisor. 

According to her advice, all you need to do is seek help from a close family or friend and make them pose as your current supervisor. "Your supervisor is going to be your BFF, and BFF is going to have a voicemail that goes something like this:  'Hi, you’ve reached the voicemail box of Heather Beth, I am either in a meeting or away from my desk, please go ahead and leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks.’ And Heather Beth is going to call back and do a reference check or job verification," Kayy says.

She elaborates that one can even say that their current or former job is a contractual position that has either ended or is about to end pretty soon and the job seeker should say that they are looking for a permanent position. "Boom! You want to stay, you want longevity, you want room to grow, and you want sustainability; they are going to look at you like you are a rockstar," Kayy continues. She also assures that "fluffing up your resume" by adding that you have a year-long experience as an entry-level employee at any company can also help you secure your desired job.

"Your daughter’s phone, your bestie’s phone, your mom’s phone, whoever’s phone is going to be your supervisor," she adds, suggesting to follow her advice if the employer wants to speak directly to your current supervisor. However, she reminds her viewers that this trick might not work in case of securing every kind of job. The potential recruiter might end up asking for your wage and tax statement as well as your Internal Revenue Service transcript which cannot be faked.

Struggling job seekers, who are looking for entry-level work, found Kayy's tips extremely helpful as usual and they left their personal experiences and thankful comments under the video. @jazthatone shared a problem they faced: "My new job never asked for contact info. They googled and called the company directly." Kayy reminded the person that "her tips won't work for every other job though" and there might be exceptions like this. @queen_of_tron joked: "I tell my friends to use my old business as contract work and I act like they saved me from a burning building." @gracewins7 commented: "I was a job hopper before med school and I did this a lot. I did the same thing for my bestie."

@claudineyface added: "I'm forever the previous/current supervisor for my friends. The fun part is I was legit their boss at some point so it's not a legit lie." Kayy has previously made tons of videos to help remote workers and job seekers while giving them informational as well as humorous hacks and tips. 

You can follow Kayy (@thewfhgrl) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.

This article originally appeared on 9.4.23.