A recent analysis of 5,500 CVs by The Risk Advisory Group’s employee screening experts found that 70 per cent contained inaccuracies, up from 63 per cent the previous year, suggesting that employers without adequate screening procedures could be making hiring decisions without all the facts.
Commenting on the findings, Michael Whittington, Head of Employee Screening at The Risk Advisory Group, says, “Given the growing number of CVs containing inaccuracies, how many employers can be sure that they are hiring the right person with the right experience for the job? Of course some CV discrepancies may be genuine slip-ups, but others are deliberate attempts by job seekers to embellish their credentials in order to get ahead.
“In this instance, no outright lies or deceptions have been uncovered, and there is no substantive evidence that Andrea Leadsom has done anything wrong. But to make a broader point, for businesses the repercussions of making the wrong hire can be huge. It can cost an organisation time, money and, potentially, its all-important reputation if things go awry. That is why we urge companies to validate the credentials of all potential hires in advance. It’s the most effective way to avoid costly mistakes further down the line.”
Academic experience and employment history are two of the most common areas for inaccuracy. 63 per cent of CVs analysed by The Risk Advisory Group this year contained inconsistencies relating to academic experience while 43 per cent contained employment history discrepancies, whilst job title inflation is also on the rise.
Some candidates are simply economical with the truth, while others fabricate entire stories in order to get ahead. Some of the examples that the employee screening experts discovered this year include:
- A number of candidates misrepresented their experience. One applicant said he had been employed as a Marketing Manager for a period of six months. His referee confirmed that he had indeed worked in the marketing department - but as an intern. Another said she had been employed for three months, and resigned for a better opportunity, while in reality she had been employed for only three days, and simply stopped showing up for work without any explanation
- One candidate claimed to have obtained a degree from a prestigious English university. However, not only had he failed to achieve the qualification, he had been expelled from the university
- Another candidate claimed to have not just one but two MBAs, when in fact he had none. The first was from a ‘fake’ university, the second was supposedly obtained in India where he had only completed a small fraction of the assignments and exams required
- A candidate going for a key compliance role failed to disclose a County Court Judgement for more than £40,000 – despite having declared no debt in his name
