After 9 Years Leading Teams, I’ve Fielded Numerous Background Checks – Don’t Cheat on Your Resume

I don’t recommend falsifying a résumé, yet I still receive all kinds of background‑check calls because I have led teams for nine years across different companies.

I’m still getting background‑check calls.

The calls most often come from large tech firms – Alibaba, Tencent and JD – with Alibaba being the most frequent. Former colleagues usually contact me via WeChat before the check.

Typical questions asked by Alibaba include:

Whether the background‑check person was in my team, how many years they worked, and the start and end dates.

Whether they led a specific project.

A comprehensive evaluation of the person, listing strengths and weaknesses.

Personality traits.

Strengths and weaknesses are always asked. My approach is to stay objective, avoid exaggeration, state genuine strengths, omit major flaws, and mention only minor shortcomings so the check does not become false.

Help me out, I’ll list you as the background‑check contact.

If the caller probes project details that I cannot fully disclose, I “package” the information.

Key point: Many small and medium companies also conduct background checks

People I previously managed also receive such calls; I’ve handled checks for numerous smaller firms as well.

Especially for management positions, the likelihood of a background check is high because the role impacts the entire team.

When I interviewed at Alibaba, I had to list every company I ever worked for, even my internship, and the questions were extremely detailed.

In short, both big and small companies perform background checks, so falsifying a résumé can backfire.