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Over 50% of Employees Have Lied about Their Lack of Experience

Over 50% of Employees Have Lied about Their Lack of Experience

Did you find a perfect candidate to help your business grow? A recent 2022 study about employees lying on their CVs might make you question if it’s all too good to be true. Out of the 1,500 employees from the study, 32% proclaimed not to tell the truth during the recruitment process. 93% of them even got away with it!

People in the middle of their careers, young graduates, and recent entries to the career ladder were the candidates embellishing the truth the most. The top three age demographics that twisted the truth most frequently were the 25-34-year-olds, 35-44-year-olds, and then the 18-24-year-olds.

Adding experience and extra skills to their CVs

So what are the consequences of the toughening job market? The study suggests these pressures are causing employees to tweak their CVs with fabrications. Considering the pressures of the current recruitment landscape, it might not come as a surprise to find that:

  • 53% admitted to embellishing their experience
  • 38% revealed exaggerating their skills
  • 26% made false claims about their previous salary

The last lie could be because of the desire to land a better starting salary at a new job. Candidates might increase their previous salary slightly when asked to show they deserve a raise in the new role. The cost of living is rising and employees might feel the need to do whatever they can to boost their paycheck.

Getting away with falsifying the truth

Can bending the truth be beneficial to employees? Out of those candidates who said they didn’t tell the truth, 51% were still in the same position at the time the 2022 study was created. Less than 1% of respondents faced legal consequences.

Although the consequences could be severe if caught, the temptation of your dream job can tempt people to still lie. 63% said they would do so for future opportunities and 62% revealed they would specifically do so for a remote working role

Employees might find it easier to trick employers if the reward is a nice, remote role they’ve always dreamed about. The pandemic has shifted how businesses operate, and many employees noticed the benefits of more flexible work arrangements.

Lying during the recruitment process to get a remote working role could be a key motivation for parents who strive to have a great work/life balance that enables them to look after their children, or for those employees who seek to have more control over their schedules.

On the other hand, it is quite interesting to note that sometimes lying isn’t even worthwhile an action to pursue when it comes to the recruitment process. 58% revealed they felt ‌they had never gained any employment advantages from fabricating the truth, which does the beg the question, is it even worth the hassle to do so?

Focus on the recruitment process

The findings suggest hiring managers need to take CVs with a pinch of salt. After all, if this many employees lied on their resume, there will be more. So, if your business is scouting for talent, you should put every effort into making the recruitment process fair and rigorous.

The study shows that liars don’t always get caught despite 68% of respondents feeling the interview was “very thorough”. There seems to be a disconnect between what candidates expect and what actually happens.

The negative effects of spreading misinformation go deeper than it being the wrong thing to do. If you look at those who had lied during the recruitment process, 23% weren’t in the position they lied to get six months later.

Having a low employee retention rate can be costly. A small business cannot afford to hire personnel that doesn’t fit the roles nor renews the recruitment process every few months. It makes sense to ensure your recruitment process gets it right the first time.

Rigorous background checks, competency-based interview techniques, and the use of performance management software can cut the cost of hiring.

This study was created in April 2022 by performance management software experts StaffCircle.

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