UK 
United States
With more employers starting to hire new talent following the coronavirus pandemic, many candidates are dusting off their CVs and checking online job boards for new opportunities.
While CVs are meant to accurately summarise a person’s personal, professional and academic achievements, new research has found that a whopping 51% of UK adults have lied on their CV.
The data from DBC Check provider CareCheck shed light on the top CV lies, with exaggerating previous responsibilities (41%) and lying about hobbies and interests (34%) topping the list.
Falsely increasing GCSE (27%) and A-Level grades (20%) were also among the biggest fibs candidates have included on their CVs.
The top seven CV lies
1. | Exaggerating previous responsibilities | 41% |
2. | Lying about hobbies/interests | 34% |
3. | Falsely increased GCSE grades | 27% |
4. | Falsely increased A-Level grades | 20% |
5. | Falsely increased University Qualification | 8% |
6. | Lied about having GCSEs/A levels/Degree | 5% |
7. | Stated I am younger than I really am | 5% |
In addition to this, CareCheck’s data found that men were more likely to lie than women with 61% of men admitting to including false information, compared with 43% of women.
Almost 60% of survey respondents aged between 25 and 44-years-old admitted to telling fibs.
Aside from highlighting the top CV lies, the data also looked into the seniority level of the role that candidates had applied to with false information.
The seniority levels
Fabricating data appeared to be more prevalent when applying to entry level roles (44%), with management level (40%) also high up in the ranking.
20% had applied for senior management roles.
1. | Entry Level | 44% |
2. | Management Level | 40% |
3. | Senior Management | 20% |
4. | Director | 5% |
5. | C-Suite | 2% |
‘It’s a little worrying’
Following the release of this data, a Spokesperson for CareCheck said that “it’s a little worrying that people are applying for higher level positions without being truthful about their qualifications or experience, as this can easily lead to badly managed teams and businesses”.
The Spokesperson added: “Rather than over-facing yourself with a role you may not be fully qualified for, it may be smarter to look at what fibs you are telling and put plans into action to make them come true.
“If you’re missing out on opportunities as you lack certain skills, see if you can gain a qualification while you’re working so that the next job you apply for will be 100% manageable,” they added.
