The number of job seekers lying about qualifications or previous employment
details is on the increase, a study claims.
The Risk Advisory Group analysed almost 900 CVs, revealing that 54 per cent
contained lies or inaccuracies.
In the last quarter of last year, 20 per cent more people were supplying
wrong details about previous employment and 86 per cent more applicants were
giving incorrect information about academic qualifications compared to six
months previously. The analysis finds that men in their early 30s are most
likely to offend with almost 70 per cent of their CVs containing some form of
discrepancy.
Andrew Fisher of the Risk Advisory Group said although many of the
discrepancies were harmless omissions or honest mistakes, deliberate
exaggeration and lying is on the increase as the economic downturn puts job
applicants under more pressure.
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"We saw candidates covering up previous redundancy or sackings,
conveniently forgetting about past employers who would make poor referees, or
creating wholly bogus academic histories," he said.
