One firm in four catches CV liars

Employers need to take greater care over applications

Angry bosses at one in four firms have withdrawn a job offer after discovering that the prospective employee lied on their application form or CV.

Similarly, 23% of bosses said that they had fired a staff member after finding out they had lied to get the job.

But, the number of "liars" may be the tip of the iceberg as many firms said they do not carry out basic checks.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) warned UK firms were a "soft touch" for CV fraudsters.

CV dangers

Nearly half of firms interviewed by the CIPD said that they rarely or never checked candidates' academic qualifications.

As for absenteeism, 20% of employers either rarely or never checked how much time candidates had taken off from their current job.

Rebecca Clarke, CIPD spokeswoman warned employers that they must check out CVs and applications.

"If you don't have rigorous pre-employment checks in place, you risk being a soft touch for people who are willing to be dishonest to get work or advance their careers," she said.

Do you think UK firms undertake sufficient candidate checks, has anyone you know benefited or lost out through lying on a job application form?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

I think that employer checks are not thorough enough. I always turn up to an interview with my qualification certificates which are rarely checked. It is not either fair on people who have studied to get qualifications or in some cases safe for the workers to employ people who you have not checked their stated qualifications properly. Employers should be responsible.
Tim Owston, York

I know of someone at my workplace who lied about their previous salary but still got the job as by the time my employers found out about it, they had already signed an employment contract and started work! I think employers have a duty to check out CVs as it is unfair on the rest of us who are honest about our CVs.
Catherine Chandler, Braintree, Essex

My brother-in-law lied on his CV saying he had qualifications he didn't. After 5 years of working for the (American) company he was promoted by the company as he was a hard worker, but unfortunately as part of the promotion they checked his qualifications for the new position, and when they found out they sacked him. Seemed unfair as he was very competent in the job.
Steven Bower, Cardiff

An enormous amount of recruitment takes place through agencies, which claim to carry out detailed checks but in fact rarely do. Employment agencies are a scam, doing nothing for their money, and employers should bring recruitment back in-house if they wish to hire quality staff.
Russell Long, UK

It seems to be horses for courses. How many people have accepted a job offer and started work only to find that things aren't quite what the firm said they were?
Michael, Plymouth, UK

What does it say for the quality of the company and position - if an unqualified person can go unnoticed? What does it say about the value of qualifications?
Jerry Davies, Manchester,UK.

To Steven from Cardiff, how can you say that it "seems unfair" that your brother-in-law was fired? He clearly lied to get the job in the first place, depriving a more suitably qualified candidate a chance! He fully deserved to get the boot.
Steve Logan, Glasgow

How about all the job descriptions that state they respect staff, give them plenty of opportunities and will actively manage their work/life balance throughout their career? These frequently turn out to be closer to 'lies' than most CV 'embellishments'. What then can the poor sucker, who believed the job advert, do when 2 years down the line they are doing the same dull job under a dreadful manager who sees good staff as a threat rather than an asset?
Lawrence, Edinburgh

I work for a recruitment agency and frequently amazed at what people will try to get away with on their CVs - recently we found one candidate who had not only lied about being a qualified accountant, but who had never finished his degree course and said he was still employed at his previous firm when he wasn't. I am all for rigorous checks to be in place, but from my perspective I often receive nothing more from an employment reference other than confirmation of dates worked and job title which doesn't help me much in validating a candidates' competencies. Also recruitment agencies who do not reference candidates adequately are breaking DTI guidelines and consultants face individual fines - maybe this should be applied to all employment practices, not just for employment agencies?
Lucy, Leeds, UK

I'm not surprised people lie on their CV's. Lying about qualifications is one thing which should never be done but there is I believe a much increased level of "white lies". This is because so many jobs are placed these days through recruitment agents. In my experience, I have never come across a more inept profession. They don't understand acronyms and themselves are rarely trained scientifically, financially or whatever is required to fill a position in these fields. There sole skill seems to be keyword matching. This prevents them from seeing the parallels between many jobs that would otherwise be easily picked up by an employer. People end up lying to compensate for this. I get put up for jobs that are completely unsuitable while jobs that are easily within my remit are rarely sent to me.
Andy, Manchester, UK

Lying on one's CV might be the only demonstration of initiative, freedom of expression and aptitude that an employee can express working for today's faceless corporations!
David, Newbury, Berkshire

Employers are very wary about providing anything other than strictly factual references about dates of employment and positions held. They may report if employees left voluntarily or were dismissed for whatever reason. Subjective opinions about performance and competence may leave them open to legal action if a former employee decides they have been maligned by one HR officer's personal view. Generally, employers get the staff they deserve; if they cannot be bothered to check qualifications or test their prospective employees then it is their own fault if they get bad workers. If agencies who are supposed to do the checking are similarly negligent then they are liable in law and can be sued.
Ian, London