Could CV lies pose problems for recruitment?

Many people currently employed in the UK have lied or been misleading in their CVs, it has been revealed, in news which could pose a problem for both recruitment agencies and HR departments.

The survey by Hirescores.com, which was circulated to 1,277 working people, revealed that 69 per cent of respondents had told some form of lie in order to secure their job.

Furthermore, it was found that the most prevalent matter being lied about was found to be included among the details on a candidate’s CV – with nine out of ten people claiming to have been dishonest on this particular document.

Commenting on the news, Peter Panayotou, senior consultant at The Write Stuff, said that creating a CV could be “tricky” as it is a sales document and not a legal one, meaning that people could not be held liable for any of the content contained within it.

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“The idea is to sell yourself, but you want to stop short of saying anything that is untrue. The secret to selling yourself is to put in lots of action words and inspirational language,” he added.

Meanwhile, recent research by Powerchex revealed that the number of candidates whose CVs contain a discrepancy increased this year to 19 per cent – its highest level for three years.