Lying On CVs Is On The Increase

Financial institutions pre-employment screening company Powerchex has just released the results of a study which took into account 3,876 job applications submitted to financial insitutions in the UK between June 2007 and May 2008. When compared to a sample of 2,960 applications made the year before, the results showed an increase of 30% in the frequency of discrepancies on CVs. The study reveals that some 17% of job applicants within financial services are prepared to tell porkies on their CV.

Job applicants tell porkies in the main about employment dates, academic qualifications, directorships, CCJs / bankruptcy, employment title / duties, compensation, reasons for leaving and having a criminal record.

The study also revealed that:

Embellishments to CVs sent to commercial and investment banks rose 30% in the last year. The greatest increase in porkies was down to IT contractors.

For the second year running, women have a higher discrepancy rate than men.

There is a weak correlation between an applicant age and their rate of discrepancy.

Brits have a substantially higher rate of discrepancy than any other nationality type.

Married applicants are slightly more likely to have a discrepancy than those who are unmarried.

Applicants who have completed a degree have a lower discrepancy rate.

The better quality of university attended, the lower the frequency of discrepancy.

Maths and finance students have a very low propensity to lie on their CVs, whereas arts and humanities students are the more likely to embellish their CV.

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www.powerchex.co.uk