Employers are being warned that job candidates in the financial sector are becoming increasingly brazen in lying when they submit CVs for job applications.
A study of more than 3,000 CVs submitted by candidates during 2004 showed that 25% of CVs in the financial sector contained false or incorrect statements.
The study by employee screening firm, The Risk Advisory Group also showed that these incorrect CVs contained an average of three lies.
The omissions from CVs range from missing out information about a poor credit history, fraud, previous addresses, previous directorships, job titles, academic qualifications and details of employment dates and gaps in employment.
These results show a marked increase in the lengths to which candidates are prepared to go to adapt their CVs to make them more attractive to potential employers.
In previous years The Risk Advisory Group studies have shown that where any problems with CVs have been discovered there tended to be only one misleading statement.
Richard Prior, the group’s deputy managing director, said: “These results are a warning to employers against taking too much at face value when hiring people.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
“Clearly any candidate could make a mistake when preparing a CV, but three mistakes are unlikely and effectively mean that these CVs are bogus.
“The increasingly brazen nature of these applications also poses serious security issues for companies who risk hiring people who have set out to deceive from day one.”
