The One Show had a feature today on CV falsehoods – reckoning that as vacancies disappear applicants will become more willing to embellish their accomplishments. You can watch it for the next 7 days on BBC iPlayer here, and that feature is at the very start of the programme.
Lying on CVs can be costly, a material falsehood on a CV could well be a fair reason for subsequent dismissal, even if discovered a long time afterwards. What’s more a serious lie earning you a job you would not have otherwise obtained might well be a criminal offence under s.2 of the Fraud Act 2006 -which replaced the traditional offence under the Theft Act of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.
Even more dramatically, you might be sued in a civil court for the money lost by your employer. At the moment Cheltenham Borough Council is treading new territory by bringing a £1 million claim against its former chief executive for alleged fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation. The local authority alleges that during its recruitment procedure Ms Laird answered questions on her medical history incorrectly, concealing her previous bouts of depression which ultimately led to an ill-health retirement payment of around £450,000. The case is currently being tried in the High Court – more news when it comes in, but I’m playing in my mind whether there are DDA issues here.
Personnel Today has an article – http://snurl.com/bffsw – where a lawyer says there are DDA issues with the Cheltenham / Laird case. It’s dealt with rather simplistically though, and the type of discrimination identified is likely to have been rendered lawful by Malcolm anyway.
My Dear UE,
I cannot help but wonder if such desperate notions as telling porkies on one’s cv constitutes a salutory warning for those of us about to embark upon the quest for the Golden Snitch of Pupillage …..(eeeeeeeeee!!)
Well Minx, two CV lying anecdotes for you:
- A friend who invented running a marathon in order to flesh out the ‘interests’ section of his CV faced questions about his times and preparation from a runner on an interview panel, but nonetheless secured the job. He still works there, and it’s something of an open joke what happened.
- Meanwhile, another dodgy associate of mine managed to work in an £80,000pa IT job in the summer after A Levels by telling them he was a computer science graduate with two years experience in the workplace. This also meant having to increase his age by an incredible five years. He received no complaints about his work.
My Dear UE,
Such unbridled affrontery! Its a fine line, is it not, between kudos for bieng bold and,well, misrepresenting oneself to ones putative employers!
I cannot help but wonder how many BVC Graduates with a ‘Competent’ grade will promote themselves as ‘Very Competent’, or even ‘Outstanding’ in this Summmer’s pupillage wars?!
[...] Usefully Employed: Lying on your CV The One Show had a feature today on CV falsehoods – reckoning that as vacancies disappear applicants will become more willing to embellish their accomplishments. You can watch it for the next 7 days on BBC iPlayer here, and that feature is at the very start of the programme. More… [...]
Its all an absolute travesty for us honest folk fighting for jobs we can do with our eyes closed but dont get the opportunity to prove it at interview!
The shame should really be on the employers for not being able to identify such embellishments! Why no requirement for proof of identity at your 80k example?! obviously age cannot be a factor in the recruitment process but once the contract is offered the lie could be easily realised! But in truth the worst thing is the job was basic enough for him to do without the experience anyway! Just like all my futile applications for employment/ family TC’s and paralegal posts: “there was simply a candidate with more experience”?? clearly 2 years as a PA and in an emp tribunal isn’t enough anymore: no wonder people are lying! :]
Many employers do check out their staff – numerous companies exist to verify the contents of CVs – like the all-knowing Experian – http://www.backgroundchecking.com/ – who let’s face it probably even know when you go to the toilet.
As for ‘experience’ being a bar to starting a job that doesn’t really need it then :
(a) remember you can challenge it if it’s age discrimination; and
(b) put yourself in the shoes of an employer with 300 CVs sat on someone’s desk.
yes exactly – the glut of applicants is clearly the unavoidable source of the problem.
The potential discrimination vs the 300 CVs is an awkward one. Maybe firing out a whole host of SD74s at employers wouldn’t make matters worse to increase scrutiny. Not that we should – i’m still toying with the suggestion that my private client tutor made 4 years ago – that young solicitors will have a great deal of trouble convincing clients that they are an authority on the law: suddenly [apparent] age discrimination has another easy justification: what do you make of that?
We are agroup of people who have through due diligence discovered that the Chairman of the company is in fact a fraud and has lied on his CV, we discovered this when we googled his name and found a blog and a website dedicated to him, in which it was obviuos that he had lied on his professional CV as well as to the board of the company. We would appreciate any input fromthe readers on what we should do next. The information can be found on this web site [reference to personal details removed - UE]