Lying on your CV

When David Smith applied to a big security company for a CP job, he beefed up his CV by "creating" relevant work experience he had not actually done. "I thought I'd better show that I had worked in CP before, so I put down that I'd done a few years work for a big CP company. That company had closed, anyway, so I knew they'd never be able to check."

Smith didn't get the job, but does not believe the fabrication on his CV was the reason. "There's no way they could have found out, and when I asked for feedback they said it was because they had been inundated with applications from high-calibre operators. I would consider doing it again in similar circumstances," he admits.

The difficult market could make "CV fraud" such as this more widespread.

Operators should know it is illegal to give misinformation on CVs.

Telling porkies on one's CV is enough of a concern for the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills to partner with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Universities UK to launch an online service that allows employers to check candidates' qualifications.

The Higher Education Degree Datacheck (HEDD) claims to already have all 165 publicly-funded universities and colleges in the UK on board. Mike Hill, chief executive of Graduate Prospects – which conducted its survey on behalf of HEDD – says: "We found that the vast majority of small businesses, and only a fifth of large companies, verify qualifications. Interestingly, 89% of students and graduates said that by just having the knowledge that their qualifications were going to be checked would make them less likely to lie."

Smith says:
"But for white lies, I don't think employers will ever be able to check. If I say, for example, that I can use a certain type of software, it's unlikely I'd get found out unless they put a computer in front of me during an interview and asked me to start doing something. I'd learn how to use the software on the job and no one would have known I'd made it up."

This is a problem for employers. Soraya Pugh, head of graduate at FreshMinds Talent, said lying on a CV is, "never a good idea, not only because you could get found out but because a lack of skills or experience will become apparent once you are in the role. With online recruitment and tools such as LinkedIn being your online CV, it is crucial to make sure all versions of your CV are the same or it will look like you are lying even if you are not."