When it comes to CV lies, little white ones or otherwise, there's a tendency to think it's OK to twist the truth ever so slightly because "everyone does it". But could it be that the economic turmoil (and the subsequent redundancies) is making us more deceitful?
A survey carried out by YouGov for the Department for Work and Pensions found at least 27% of Brits admit they have "lied or exaggerated" (same thing?) on their CVs in a bid to stand out at a time when jobs are scarce and competition is high. At a time when more than 10% of teenagers are out of work and 40,000 degree students are expected to move from university to the job centre, the survey also found young people were twice as likely as over-55s to fib about their professional experience.
A recruitment specialist from Reed says: "I can imagine that some people who have been hit by redundancies will be tailoring their end dates in jobs. If you've been out of work for a while, then there will be a big gap on your CV and you'll just have to be honest about not being able to get work.
"If you exaggerate the truth, the danger is that you will be reference checked and those exaggerations will be noticed."
In this year's Apprentice Lorraine was caught out extending the odd date on her career history, while last year's winner Lee McQueen made a bit more of an obvious lie claiming to have studied a course he had dropped out of.
How dangerous can it be to slip in the odd embellishment here or there, or to imply that your role was more important than it really was, suggesting you carried far more responsibility than you really did?
"Human error can come into your CV, but it has to be within reason," the Reed recruiter says. "If I'd finished a job in March but said I was there until September, then I'd be aware that that was a bit of an exaggeration. You are expected to know your own career history for at least the last two years."
Have you ever hesitated when filling out an application form, wondering whether a few extra months at a job here or there would make a difference? And have you actually been caught out lying on your CV?
