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"I enjoy tennis and speak fluent Chinese". Rough translation, "I like Anna Kournikova and can understand the menu in my local take-away".
Most of us admit to lying on our CV. Maybe an exaggerated qualification here, a slight rewording of your job description or a fabricated hobby there. It's quite common practice to add some spin to your CV in the hope that it will get you that great job. But it seems that many companies are beginning to crack down on fraudulent job applicants by employing specialist agencies to wheedle out the truth. One such agency is CV Validation.com who in recent research have discovered that 7.5m of Britain's 25.3m working population have lied on a CV when applying for a job. That's nearly one in five of us fibbing our way around the offices and work places of Britain.
But what are we lying about? According to CV Validation.com 47% of us lie about our leisure pursuits. But surely claiming that we are a black belt in karate when the only black belt we own is holding up our trousers can't really do that much harm? Apparently it can, as employers are no longer turning a blind eye to certain aspects of our CVs they might know to be 'creative'. The thinking is that by lying on your CV even about your interests, you are displaying a willingness to lie about anything.
It is however the bigger lies that are causing the most amount of concern. It's common to exaggerate remuneration on a CV, bumping up the salary in the hope of being offered more money for a new position. But take heed, if you are offered the position, your new employer will be able to see how much you were earning when you present your P60. Chances are, they won't admire your double-dealing, unless of course your new career is in second hand car sales.
If we're honest I'm sure we've all beefed up our achievements on our CVs. Stating that you managed a team when in actual fact you were simply part of it is common. No problem you might think, but have you actually thought about what might happen if you are taken on on the strength of these people management skills? You might find yourself out of your depth. Languages are another usual boast. All too often people might claim to possess such skills at interview level only to find themselves called upon and ultimately found out at a later date.
Lying about qualifications and experience is a dangerous thing to do. It may be one thing to claim to like a football team because the boss does, but completely fabricating grades and employment history is quite another. According to CV Validation.com only a third of the 350 managers questioned bothered to seriously check an applicants credentials beyond references. Claiming to have been travelling to cover a spell in prison is actually quite common. Famously, Jeffery Archer on an earlier CV suggested that he had an MA from Oxford University, when he had actually only spent time in the Oxford area working on a postgraduate diploma.
Lying about qualifications is serious. Unlike anything else it's an outright lie rather than a spin on the truth. Some companies take CV embellishment very seriously, seeing it as gross misconduct, there has even been an instance of a City firm sacking someone because they lied about an O-level grade. Though many people might argue that a CV is merely a personal brochure and it's rare to see negative information on any brochure, others are keen to point out that lying on a document is tantamount to fraud.
As Will Pringle a PeopleBank Recruitment Consultant says, "If someone is looking for an excuse to sack you and you've lied on your CV then you're leaving yourself wide open. The short answer is I don't think it's a great idea".
Of course any interviewer worth their salt should know how to spot a fraud. Clever questioning will show a candidate's true level of experience and then the employer can make judgements from there. But as Daniel Stainsby, another PeopleBank Consultant states "You need to consider why you are lying. If you have to lie to get a job the chances are the role is not right for you, so is it really worth lying only to be dismissed further down the line because you could not do the job." As Daniel continues, "Lying on your CV is ultimately fraud and whilst it may get you a job in the short term it could result in your dismissal years down the line when you are going for that internal promotion."
The lesson to be learnt here is that there is a fine line between lying and making the most of the truth.
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