Businesses urged to increase vetting process for potential employees

A new report urges employers to properly vet potential employees to guard against excessive embellishment or dishonesty in CVs

This warning comes as the latest data from the Office for National Statistics show unemployment is at a five-year high, increasing the risk of jobseekers resorting to risky tactics to secure a role.

Some job seekers admit to lying on CVs

The Gi Group report cites findings from fraud prevention service Cifas, which found that as many as one in five jobseekers admitted to lying on their CV to land a job role.

Other research by Standout CV found that 18.5% of people who lied about employee references confessed to using fake reference services, sometimes involving paid actors pretending to be employers.

Vetting potential employees: A time-consuming process, but a detriment to employers if not carried out properly

Cindy Gunn, Group Head of People at Gi Group, is urging employers to be vigilant when it comes to excessive embellishment and dishonesty on CVs and to map out a robust vetting process.

She said, “Given the highly competitive employment landscape, it’s understandable that some candidates may feel under pressure, or even a sense of desperation, to exaggerate, or even falsify, their experience or references in order to appear as a better choice for employers.

“But everyone needs to be aware that lying on your CV can amount to gross misconduct, potentially leading to dismissal, legal consequences, and even being blacklisted by recruiters.

“However, given that it is happening, the onus then falls on the employer, and perhaps even recruiters who are working with candidates, to properly vet potential employees.

“This can be a very time-consuming process, but it will be to an employer’s detriment if they don’t properly vet a candidate and then discover later down the line that experience was fabricated to an extent, which means the candidate isn’t qualified for the role.”

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