One-fifth of job applicants tell huge lies on their CVs or fail to reveal court judgments made against them, a probe revealed.
An investigation of more than 3,700 CVs by employee screening specialists the Risk Advisory Group showed job applicants’ lies are becoming more serious and are not merely down to mistakes.
Inaccuracies uncovered by the group’s specialist employment screening unit in the last year ranged from discrepancies in employment and academic dates, to failure to disclose bankruptcy and other credit infringements.
One probe of claims made by a potential recruit for a post at City watchdog the Financial Services Authority found the applicant to have been the subject of an internal investigation by her previous employer. The investigation revealed the applicant had been divulging sensitive information to a competitor and, as a result, was reported to the very financial services regulator she now wanted to work for.
On top of the growing number of tellers of tall tales uncovered, the Risk Advisory Group also found more than half of all the CVs it screened included at least one inaccuracy.
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Sal Remtulla, head of employee screening for the Risk Advisory Group, said: “This year’s results have yet again brought to our attention how unscrupulous candidates can be when applying for jobs, and highlight their apparent lack of conscience towards potential new employers.
“The serious nature of these discrepancies emphasises the need for heightened attention during the recruitment process.”
