CV fibbers warning for employers

Temptation is a prime cause of CV fabrication

Employers are being warned to be on their guard as most people lie in their job applications, a survey has found.

Research shows two-thirds of more than 3,000 CVs submitted by applicants contained inaccuracies.

They ranged from gaps in employment to outright lies about qualifications and fraud committed against past bosses.

Women in their early 30s were the worst offenders with 77% of CVs showing discrepancies, while men in their early 20s were the most honest group.

However, on even the "most honest" CVs, half of those checked had mistakes.

High-profile cases

Corporate investigations agency The Risk Advisory Group said the problem is worsening, with 2003 figures up 16% on the previous year.

The study comes in the wake of a number of high-profile cases of application fraud.

On Monday Ian Huntley's former girlfriend Maxine Carr was given a three-year community rehabilitation order for deception offences, including lying on job applications.

And Buckingham Palace has reviewed security after Daily Mirror journalist Ryan Parry was able to get a job as a royal footman.

MASSAGING THE FIGURES Two thirds of CVs were inaccurate Women in their 30s were the worst offenders 55% of CVs had employment discrepancies 36% changed academic details Mistakes increased in the last quarter of 2003 Source: TRAG report

The group scrutinises candidates' applications for employers - including banks and other financial institutions where regulators require a high level of checks.

Director of Business Development Alan Beazley said researchers have a well-honed feeling to detect when something on the CV is amiss.

Because people are asked for five to 10 years of employment, university, schooling and address records it is "inevitable that people are going to make some mistakes", he said.

But people also believe they will get away with it: "In quite a lot of cases there appears to be a systematic attempt to omit or massage information."

Under employment, people might say they left a project when they were made redundant, or worked somewhere they did not.

"People not declaring the true reasons for them leaving is pretty serious," he said.

It's temptation, some people are just 'chancers' Alan Beazley Risk Advisory Group

In their personal details, applicants sometimes conceal previous addresses because of court judgements registered against them.

And in education, he said: "There is a great temptation to inflate their academic record".

In one case a woman said she had studied at Columbia University in New York, but they had no record of her ever having been there.

"We say look this is what we found, we can't bottom it out, you need to go back to the individual and challenge them on the report we have made," said Mr Beazley.

Brazening it out

The simple human instinct of survival of the fittest seemed to be the reason behind the lie.

"The motivation is probably that they want to get an advantage over other candidates, you want to appear to have done better in studies than you actually did," said Mr Beazley.

Plus there is the feeling applicants can brazen it out in a tough job-market.

"I think people feel they won't be found out," he said. "I have read other studies where people have been asked 'would you lie?' and the numbers are very high - three-quarters say yes.

"It's temptation, some people are just chancers."

While the level of checks on application forms may catch potential CV-fibbers, Mr Beazley did offer some scope for unemployed creative writers.

"It's essentially a marketing document.

"I have no problem with people presenting themselves in the best possible light," he said.

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Are you one of the CV-fabricators? Do you have any regrets about deceiving your way to a better job?
Tell us below.

Your comments:

The more educated a candidate was the less use they would be to us William Henshall, Los Angeles, USA

As the British born CEO/Chairman of my own 'silicon valley' high tech company for nearly 10 years I learned never to take a resume too literally. Of course people stretch the truth. That's life. A resume is a pointer towards what the candidate has done. Personal references really tell all. Call and talk to people they used to work with or grew up with. A few leading questions usually work wonders. Oh and I also found that the more education a candidate had often the less use they would be to us. PhDs were the worse - the way they think can be way too esoteric to get anything done in time and on budget - well in the commercial software world anyway!
William Henshall, Los Angeles, USA

Your report is presented as if there were a real choice over lying on a CV. I have one here in front of me - a minor clerical job. I know that in order to have a chance of getting it, I have to lie. It's simply a case of me being young and without experience - how else do I get the experience necessary to find a job, nepotism failing, when employers just want hassle-free cogs to fit into jobs? Especially when up to two thirds of my potential competitors are probably lying anyway... It's positive feedback in motion: everybody knows people lie on their CVs, so they lie just to help even out the competition: there's no payoff for being honest.
DL, UK

A tip for anybody over 50 - take 10 years off your age
J.Sherwood, Spalding UK

Let's not put all the blame on the people distorting the truth. If employment agencies - and employers themselves - weren't so narrow-minded and superficial in their approach to CVs, then 'difficult' areas, such as periods of unemployment might be declared in an honest and open fashion.
Andrew, Halifax, UK

How many employers are guilty of the same deception? Andy, Southampton, UK

How many employers are guilty of the same deception? Of describing responsibilities that bear little resemblance to the actual work or putting a positive spin on the company culture or promotion opportunities to attract good candidates?
Andy, Southampton, UK

Creativity and ingenuity should be rewarded! It's the employers' partial responsibility for letting too much rest on a few facts-surely it does not provide them with the most versatile and flexible work-force, especially in jobs with responsibility for trade as opposed to more serious things.
Anon, UK

I've always been scrupulously honest in my CV, whilst trying to put a good spin on my achievements & skills. However, I have a really poor record of getting to interview stage. Then I lied about my age and found the offers flooding in. The problem is that employers and employment agencies are riddled with irrational discrimination - age, race, sex for starters - and this forces people to lie to get a fair chance.
Piers, London

Even if you get the job, you probably won't be able to do the job if you have been employed for your "phoney skills"!
Noel, Harrogate, UK

I've simply worked hard, been honest and proved my ability Chris Knell, Oxford

I dropped out of university and started my first job as a badly paid administrative assistant. Now, less than three years later, I'm a finance officer on more than double my admin salary. I've never lied on my CV. I've simply worked hard and been honest and proved my ability. That's all it takes.
Chris Knell, Oxford