The
number of jobseekers lying about academic qualifications or previous employment
details is on the increase, according to an employee screening service.
The
Risk Advisory Group analysed almost 900 CVs and found that 54 per cent
contained lies or inaccuracies.
This
was markedly up from previous figures. In the last quarter, 20 per cent more
people were supplying wrong details about previous employment and 86 per cent
supplied incorrect information about academic qualifications.
The
analysis found 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: "As people got more worried about
the economy, 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 one man lied about an MBA qualification 15 years ago, and was forced to
keep it in his CV to protect his earlier lie. The Risk Advisory Group later
uncovered his deception.
Fisher
said while many of the discrepancies were harmless omissions or honest mistakes
that had no bearing on the hiring process, deliberate exaggeration and lying is
on the increase – perhaps because of fears as the recession took hold.
The
Risk Advisory Group uncovered one job applicant who changed his address details
to hide the fact that anti-terrorist services had twice raided his house and
found offensive weapons in his home.
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