Lying on a resume is a gamble — and most people know it.

When a 47-year-old single mother fudged her degree status to land a job at a nonprofit she was passionate about, her younger supervisor made sure she paid for it every single day.

What followed was a year and a half of financial ruin, workplace hostility, a broken shoulder, and a termination letter delivered by certified mail.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITAH for lying in an interview saying I had a full college degree when I had 26 more credits to complete with only one class left for my major?

I (47F) was recruited by the CFO of a nonprofit that cares for those with autism and intellectual disability.

A position opened up in the fiscal department, and she had been a customer of mine for almost 9 years while I was employed in retail management.

She mentioned the job to me, and I expressed great interest because my son is severely autistic and I wanted to get my foot in the door in an industry I am passionate about.

So once she got to the interview, she decided to tell a little white lie.

First interview and I was questioned about my degree. I felt pressure and I said it was complete, and then went on to talk about my 20 years of management experience.

They hired me and the first 3 months were glorious!

But those glorious days soon came to an end.

My direct supervisor was a much younger woman than me (29), and we seemed to be a good match. Then she started to pressure me to turn in my degree to HR.

I had to tell them I had all but one class left for my political science major, but had 23 credits left of electives to complete to graduate. It was awful.

She points out that plenty of other employees there all have varying degrees of education.

But it really sucked because the AP clerk only had a business certificate, a payroll processor was in the process of completing her degree, and the woman who has her hand in orchestrating most all of the BS there didn’t have a high school diploma when she was hired.

I believe she’s gotten it since, but does not have a college degree.

This would be a significant financial strain.

They told me in order to keep my job I’d have to go back to Penn State and finish up in 2 years. This works out to roughly 3 classes a semester, which is part time, so I was exempted from financial aid.

I agreed to this because I wanted to make this work. I felt like I had something to give here.

Her relationship with her boss was also left severely damaged.

That’s when everything changed. My boss would not look at me, hand me any special projects, and routinely left me out of department conversations.

I uttered not one peep of malcontent, and I figured out a way to come up with $5,000-$8,000 every 3 months for a year and a half. My last semester was in the Spring 2025.

I was so stressed out! My finances were in shambles, I am a single mom of 2 boys, and I still needed to perform at work.

Despite all her hard work, it still wasn’t enough for management.

I accepted all of this with grace, but was met with hostility by my supervisor at every turn. She put me on a PIP about one year into my return to school.

I was called out for violations that were ridiculous. Many were wardrobe related — for example, wearing semi-couture $200 knee shorts when it states in the handbook that shorts were not allowed.

I had seen others wear them so I didn’t realize this was an issue.

She, once again, points out all the infractions of her coworkers.

Especially because the payroll clerk looks like a ****** every day in skin-tight clothes and 6-inch heels.

Another employee wears the same frayed jean jacket several times a week, and that’s also a violation. But these two have never been spoken to.

I was sent home because of the violation.

Management continued to seem intent on watching her fail.

They told me that I would not be considered for work from home and I needed to go on short-term disability. Which was fine until they demanded that I return my laptop.

They were aware that this was the only device I had to do my work on. I asked if I could rent one because I know there were extras and I needed a device to finish my last semester.

They denied all requests. I tried to use my phone, but was unable to take certain exams and ultimately could only finish 2 of the 4 classes.

That’s when the other shoe finally dropped.

When I let them know this, I received a certified letter notifying me that I was terminated. It broke me. I loved my job and was well respected by pretty much everyone but those in my department.

During my time there I became close with people in other departments, and many came to me asking why my direct supervisor is so nasty — or to talk about her inappropriate behavior with the mid-60s married marketing manager.

At first, she tried to cover for her boss, but now she regrets it.

I gaslit them and told them they just don’t understand my boss. And she would never do such a thing!

But her behavior with him was completely inappropriate, often. She never reached out to me once while I was on disability, nor did I hear from her at any time since the termination.

I was terminated by certified mail. This has ruined me.

I had to sell my soul to the devil to get the money necessary to finish my degree, and I’m still 2 classes shy.

She finds her life completely in shambles now.

I am the only provider for my 2 boys and I’ve been struggling with an autoimmune condition which has been exacerbated by the stress of this incident, and I still have not found new employment.

I know I screwed up by lying, but I believed my solid management experience would be enough for them to at least give me some grace. I feel like this isn’t over.

What a dramatic fall from grace.

What did Reddit think?

This user thinks she should have never gotten the job in the first place.

This commenter takes a hard line about her lying.

It’s important to take responsibility for your actions, even when it’s difficult.

This user thinks this was an important lesson that needed to be learned.

When it comes to a college degree, “almost” doesn’t count.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.