Employees savvy to misleading CVs

With many candidates desperate to get their foot in the door, it makes lying and deceitful behaviour more common during the recruitment process.

To ensure that this false information doesn't slip through the cracks, it is important to have robust recruitment software that can accurately track CVs and analyse candidate data. Potentially any CV that comes across your desk could feature some form of misleading personal information.

Data from a recent CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals revealed many employers are becoming more savvy to false information. In the survey, 58 per cent of employers had caught lies on a CV and 33 per cent had seen a marked increase in these incidents post-recession.

The figure could well be higher than 58 per cent, but some false information that is irreverent to the job could be overlooked or left unread. Over half (51 per cent) of employers said that they would automatically fire a candidate they caught lying, but 40 per cent said it would depend on the nature of the deception.

According to the employers in the survey, there are a number of common CV lies that are seen on a regular basis. This includes exaggerated skill sets (57 per cent), embellished responsibilities (55 per cent), dates of past employment (42 per cent) and false job titles (34 per cent).

Hiring managers also reported misleading academic degrees, past employers and awards.

Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder, Rosemary Haefner, explained that candidates who lie on their CVs are setting themselves up for failure.

"Trust is very important in professional relationships, and by lying on your resume, you breach that trust from the very outset," she said.

"If you want to enhance your resume, it's better to focus on playing up tangible examples from your actual experience. Your resume doesn't necessarily have to be the perfect fit for an organisation, but it needs to be relevant and accurate."