It is safe to say that job opportunities have not exactly been overflowing in the British Isles for some time now. With an ever growing population, and the unstable economy leading to employers cutting back positions in their commercial properties, many people are failing to find a full time job which will pay them a proper living wage. Instead, a record number have turned to part time work or self-employment in order to pay their bills every week – after all, what other choice do they have?
Well, they could always slip a little white lie or two on to their CV to garner a little extra interest from prospective employers.
While this notion may shock many readers, it seems that a large percentage of short and long term unemployed people are doing just that in a bid to finally get back into work. In fact, in a survey conducted by Staffbay, one in five participants admitted they would consider slipping in an extra qualification or lucrative work placement if they truly thought it could impress the employer in question.
Staffbay surveyed 25,000 job hunters – both in and out of work when the study took place – to determine exactly how far members of the British public would go to achieve their dream position. It found that while the most common method of altering the CV was to “bump” grades, such as changing an upper second degree to a first class, 20 per cent of participants would also be willing to invent an A level qualification or lie about a period of work experience in order to get ahead of the pack.
Founder of Staffbay, Tony Wilmot, claims that the challenging job market at present is pushing people to do things that they would never normally consider out of the need to find employment.
He says; “Obviously, these figures are shocking, but with as many as 80 people chasing the same job it is hardly surprising that some jobseekers are prepared to bend the rules a little to enter the world of work.
“It’s pleasing to see that 80 per cent of the jobseekers we surveyed are honest, but what is very apparent from these results is the need for those seeking work to differentiate themselves.
“Simple paper CVs just don’t make you stand out from the crowd these days; what employers want to do is find out more about job applicants before they call them in for an interview, and they simply can’t do this by flicking through a paper CV.”
The level of CV falsification in the UK has gone up dramatically in recent years, with the main reason being attributed to the poor economic situation within the country since 2008. In fact, it has become such an issue with employers that the Government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England has agreed to pay for a degree verification service.
Employers will soon be able to check the claims made on the CVs of prospective employees in relation to their university education by entering their information into the programme online. The service will then confirm or deny the verity of the information on their CV, allowing employers to establish whether or not the applicant is entirely trustworthy.
Even high profile leaders of companies can be caught out when falsifying information on their CVs – in May, former chief executive of Yahoo was forced to resign after he was found to have altered his degree qualifications on his CV.
With January traditionally being the time of year where workers get the urge to switch jobs, this number will undoubtedly rise over the next few weeks. However, for anyone considering telling a little white lie on their applications, you may want to think about a few things first.
Lying on a CV can have hugely important consequences, as should you gain the position through false information you then have to deal with the pressure of keeping to that story every day. With thousands of workers in the UK succumbing to workplace related stress, would you really like your dark secret hanging over your head in the office every day?
Have you ever enhanced your qualifications on your CV in a bid to make yourself stand out from competitors in front of a prospective employer and, if so, did it work? Do you think the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s qualification checking service will work, or will jobseekers find a way around it – possibly by switching their story to additional work experience or boosting their A level results instead?
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