Most times it is completely obvious to bosses when a co-worker exaggerates or lies. I am working with one who I could out for her lies if I want to, but I am not sure it would do me any good at all.

She did at one time complain about me in a Teams message to our manager, but accidentally included me on the (nonsensical) complaint. When I chimed in on the Teams message saying, "I am not sure why you're saying this about me..." it did not go well for her. The boss flew off the handle and within literally 45 seconds the co-worker was texting me an apology.

So her complaining totally backfired on her.

OP here -

Thanks. I’ll try to continue minding my own business. Unfortunately, the lying and exaggeration is prevalent in my field, and people get away with it. I was beat out for the last promotion by an outside applicant whose resume showed an extraordinary career (when they got the job, I didn’t even feel bad because their resume was so amazing) and has failed miserably at the job, making most people think they must have lied/ exaggerated. There are other cases. It’s frustrating because they get management jobs and then depend heavily on those of us who actually did the job to carry them through. I know, I know… I need a different workplace, but everyone says it’s like this everywhere in my field.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if this is true for others, but I rarely have to fight my battles. For some reason, the truth always came to the surface when coworkers tried to sabotage me. Try letting it play itself out, op. In the end, she will likely play herself.

I'm just about to win an 8 year war of attrition in this spirit. It's glorious.

It sounds like the senior boss doesn't believe her anyway.

I don't know if this is true for others, but I rarely have to fight my battles. For some reason, the truth always came to the surface when coworkers tried to sabotage me. Try letting it play itself out, op. In the end, she will likely play herself.

Let your actions/work speak for themselves, and promote yourself. Do not put down others or accuse them of lying/embellishment, as it will only make you look bad.

Start flirting with the boss that promotes.

I have a coworker who has always been very jealous of me and gossiped about me. I generally ignore her. We both have similar backgrounds and in the future, may be up for the same job. I have recently noticed that she is embellishing her experience, to match my experience. The promotion is to be in charge of X - an area where I worked for 15 years and still get called back to help. She worked in that area for about 7 years, the last of which was almost 20 years ago. So I was walking by her desk and she was telling one of the senior bosses in an important department that she had worked in that dept for 15 years and that she had attended a number of impo events. He would have been at those events and told her he didn’t recall her being there, except for one. She insisted she was and he just didn’t remember.
Would you say anything to this boss? I think if I hint that she’s lying, I will look crazy or vindictive. But yes, he is a person who would have influence on who gets that promotion someday.
(She does a lot of other things- she implies she’s a manager and I’ve seen other times she claimed to be at events that she didn’t attend. I only know because I did actually work in that department so I know who was sent. )