Recently a survey into standards of integrity in the UK revealed that 33% of under-25s believing that lying on a job application is never justified.
While women scored slightly higher on integrity issues than men, the study, by the University of Essex, found hardly any variation based on social class, education or income.
However, the older the respondents were the higher the levels of integrity as 41 per cent of middle-aged people and 55 per cent of those over 65 believed it was never justified to lie on a CV.
For a long time there has been a view that it is possible to get away with lying on a CV because most details, such as exam grades and education levels are unlikely to be checked. This is a risky assumption because it is becoming clear that employers' HR department and recruitment agencies are becoming more astute at detecting something amiss with a CV.
There have been several cases recently of people being caught out and in one the woman involved, a projects administrator, was sent to prison for six months under the Fraud Act of 2006 for falsely claiming to have two A levels and for a forged letter of recommendation.
In another case a woman at high level in administration was fired for dishonesty from her job after lying about having a Master's degree and in a recent case in Essex a woman hospital scientists was struck off and fired after claiming to be qualified and then while working demonstrated clear incompetence in mixing up samples to be tested and not knowing how to use the equipment.
These were all people in senior positions but it is unwise to assume that candidates for a secretarial or PA role would be immune from checking or suspicion and less likely to be checked.
Even where recruitment agencies do not request exam certificates as proof, as many do, they do carry out thorough checks when doing the initial interview to decide whether to accept a candidate onto their books.
Some of them carry out background checks, as do some employers even after hiring, and most will do a thorough initial interview. Those doing the interview are experienced in recruitment and interviewing and will question such things as dates of employment as well as checking references provided.
Many of them say that they generally know if a potential candidate is lying or if there is something amiss with the CV.
Although of course it is recognised that a CV will be tailored by the candidate to make the most of their strengths and successes and that this is acceptable, misrepresenting basic, checkable facts is clearly risky and might lead to a ruined reputation, the loss of a job or even prison.
It goes without saying that every CV should be tailored to the specific job being applied for and the candidate should have done some research into the company, the role and corporate policies beforehand.
The message is that curriculum vitae is not a life story but a specific tool for a specific purpose and as a sales tool should be written actively, with short examples and with the candidate's goal and audience in mind.
----------------------------------------------------
It is tempting, when desperate for that PA or EA role, to lie on a CV and claiming qualifications that a candidate does not but recruitment companies and employers increasingly check such claims. By Ali Withers. http://www.rmsrecruitment.com
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=248193
No comments:
Post a Comment