Official News page 6

REAL LIFE NEWS: LIES, DAMNED LIES AND RESUMES

by Hazed

During a recession, the lies contained in people's CVs or resumes increase, a recent survey found. According to an annual lie-check which employee screening company Powerchex conducts, 19% of job candidates in the financial services industry had a "discrepancy" in their CV. I guess that's a polite way of saying they lied.

Bankers aren't the only ones telling fibs: the number of those applying to IT contracting firms who lied also rose to 18% - that's three times what they were last year. Powerchex says these figures represent a three year high. They say the increase is because of the recession making the job market more difficult.

The figures are taken from 4,735 job applications submitted in the year up to May 2009. The lies were about lots of different things, including professional qualifications, job histories, criminal records, academic qualifications and responsibilities. The most common discrepancy was in employment dates - 42% of all the discrepancies. Next most common were undisclosed directorships, followed by lies about academic qualifications.

University graduates tended to be more honest than non-graduates, and men told fewer lies than women. City brokers received a disproportionate number of applicants who tried to hide criminal records.

Anyone who lies on a CV is liable to be fired if hey are found out, even if they hold very senior positions and have done so for some time, having lied years earlier. The survey did not say how many of these fibbers had gone on to get the job, and now stood to be sacked!

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