Everybody Lies. Are you a CV cheat?

It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.

- Dr Gregory House

In my day-to-day job as a headhunter at Charles Warwick, I don’t so much find jobs for candidates as finding candidates for jobs. Despite this, I often find myself with CV in hand, highlighting interesting statements, searching for mentions of the key skills my clients requires and generally making sure the potential candidate is worth moving to the next stage of the process.

It has not passed me by that people embellish their CV’s – an elaborate job title here, an embroidered skill set there (as opposed to embroidery skills!) – and whilst I understand that the pressure to stand out in a sea of applicants may tempt job seekers to be less than honest, is it worth the risk in this digital age when everyone can be a detective if they so wish?

After my recent blog regarding ethics and screening personal social media accounts prior to inviting candidates to interview, I couldn’t help but think that surely people would be less inclined to dress up their credentials or lie about employment facts knowing a few clicks might just catch them out? So I did a little digging and found some interesting (and dare I say, amusing) features and facts, some of which I wanted to share with you today.

Research from Career Builder found that almost ¾ of employers have spotted a lie on an applicants CV and 71% of recruitment managers have noticed untruths. Two in five employers (41 per cent) said that they would automatically dismiss a candidate if they caught a lie on his/her CV, while 52 per cent said that it would depend on what the candidate lied about. Six per cent said they’d be willing to overlook a lie if they liked the candidate.

According to employers, the most common fabrications they notice are:

• Embellished skill set – 57%
• Embellished responsibilities – 57%
• Dates of employment – 40%
• Job title – 36%
• Companies worked for – 32%
• Academic degree – 27%
• Awards/recognitions – 15%

It may also amuse you (as it did me) to find out that there have been more than a few famous faces caught out through CV and interview mistruths. A few of my favourites include…

Former London mayoral candidate Jeffrey Archer is probably the most famous exponent of the art. He suggested on an early CV that he had an MA from Oxford University, when he had only spent time in the town working on a postgraduate diploma.

Alison Ryan, Communications manager, Manchester United
Claim: First-class degree from Cambridge
Truth: She got a second class degree and had been banned from practicing as a lawyer
What happened: Ms. Ryan, who got the ￡125,000-a-year job after being interviewed by Sir Alex Ferguson, was sacked when her lies were exposed.

In 2012, Scott Thompson, CEO of Yahoo!, was fired after only 5 months on the job when it was discovered that he had lied on his résumé. He had stated that he earned degrees in both Accounting AND Computer Science, when in fact he never received the latter.

And my personal (more amusing) favourite has to be from Actor, Eddie Redmayne…

Eddie Redmayne
Claim: I can ride a horse
Actor Eddie Redmayne pretended he could ride at his audition for 2005 miniseries Elizabeth I and ended up regretting it. Director Tom Hooper asked: Have you ever been on a horse? Redmayne replied, “yes”.
Result according to Redmayne: “Cut to Lithuania, two weeks later, a huge street, Helen Mirren at the end on a balcony, Jeremy Irons, rain machines, 50 extras, spurs and I'm thinking, ‘At what point do I tell them I’ve never ridden a horse.’ I nearly killed people as the horse galloped off and Director Tom came out with his megaphone and yelled: ‘You’re a ******* liar!’”

Perhaps you love the simple pleasures of life, such as sitting down, can of lager in hand, to unwind; so you choose to add an exotic skill or interest to your CV to present yourself as an altogether more interesting individual? Pretty harmless you might think? Well yes, right up until your final interview is with a Taekwondo expert who can’t wait to discuss the sport with you. Perhaps you’ve told me to present your current salary as X to my client, hoping by adding a few thousand you might just get a better offer? All fine and well until your P60 is presented to your new employer, showing EXACTLY what you’ve been earning.

Whilst exaggerating on your CV may seem like a harmless exercise in the outset, it’s so easy to come unstuck. Interviews and increasingly complex tests are likely to get you found out pretty quickly. Not only that, by lying on your CV, you are displaying a willingness to lie about anything - and making a tacit admission that your qualifications are not up to the job.

As Spokesperson for The Institute of Personnel and Development Nick Isles said, "The skill is walking the fine line between lying and making the most of the truth," he says. "That is the very secret of successful CV writing."

So there is hope for all of us who are not ready to come clean about our GCSE chemistry exam quite yet.

Until next time,
Mark

Photo credit: Flickr KayKim