More than 1 in 4 candidates lie in their CVs, according to First Advantage, a business that offers pre-employment screening services. Therefore, it is important that employers are on the look out for dishonesty rather than being overly trusting.
David Prosser, a Contributor from SmallBiz Ahead, writes about the 4 most common lies that candidates tell in his article, Four Lies Your Employees Told You to Get the Job:
1. “I got these grades.”
No, you didn’t. More than a third of the education checks made by First Advantage uncovered discrepancies and inaccuracies – typically relating to when, what and where the candidate studied. That might be anything from claiming to have a higher exam grade than was actually achieved to entirely made up degree qualifications.
2. “I’m professionally qualified.”No, you aren’t. Almost a quarter of the professional checks made by First Advantage found incorrect information had been supplied. Candidates fibbed about their professional qualifications, the licenses they held and their membership of various professional organizations.
3. “I used to do this.”Apparently not. A quarter of all the checks First Advantage made on candidates’ employment records turned up inaccuracies. People don’t tell the truth about where they’ve worked in the past and they’re often tempted to exaggerate the seniority of the roles they held.
4. “I’ve always worked”.Really? One common ploy is to use false dates in order to gloss over periods when the candidate wasn’t working. That might be to hide a period of unemployment about which the candidate feels uncomfortable, or something more serious – even a spell in jail.