Over a quarter of job seekers found to be lying on their CV’s

According to research by the job board CV-Library, 28.6% of job applicants lie on their CV in order to impress their prospective employers and get to that crucial interview stage. 9.2% of those lies were considered major fibs, and not just white lies.

The survey conducted by CV-Library attempted to find out whether or not UK job seekers would lie in order to get a job. The majority of those surveyed said they are honest on their CV’s, but given that around one in ten applicants tell a major lie on their CV’s businesses should be very wary when recruiting.

And it seems most businesses are vigilant when questioning a candidates CV, with just under half (47.3%) of those who lied admitting that the lies did not help them get the job. So what can businesses do to ensure applicants lies are caught out before a job offer is made? Here are a few tips:

Social Media

You can use LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to do some research on your applicants. Some may say that this is an invasion of privacy, but if profiles are made public then you have every right to do some background checks.

LinkedIn can be most useful due to the fact that profiles contain information such as employment history and qualifications. Given the nature of the platform, most users refrain from telling lies since it’s visible to colleagues, previous employers etc. and therefore an ideal source to compare against the CV.

Interview

The interview stage can be the point where any suspicious claims made on the applicants CV can be called into question. Remember to seek examples to back up any statements that the candidate makes, you need people who can answer questions honestly and naturally. Applicants will find it harder to lie to your face as opposed to on their CV. For more information on interview best practice Click Here

If you’re an employer, how do you feel about candidates lying on their CV’s? If you’re a jobseeker, do you feel you have to lie in order to get ahead?

Let us know what you think on our social media channels using #CVLies

Alternatively email at Sion@JVPGroup.co.uk 

Source; Recruiter.co.uk         Published; 17.06.15