A recent article by Forbes reported that 70% of workers lie on their CVs, with 80% saying they have lied during a job interview.
Yesterday, it was reported that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ CV exaggerated the amount of time she spent working for the Bank of England.
Having originally said she worked at the Bank till December 2006, The BBC reported she actually left in March 2006. The reason this was so frowned upon, is because Reeves had spoken about spending “the best part of a decade as an economist at the Bank of England”, when in fact it was only just over 5 years.
So, is it illegal to lie on your CV? and if it is, what are the consequences?
Is It Illegal To Lie On Your CV?
The short answer is yes, it is illegal to lie on your CV. This is because it falls under the Fraud Act 2006, which says:
“A person is in breach of this section if he dishonestly makes a false representation, and intends, by making the representation, to make a gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another.”
This means that if you lie to get a job to benefit yourself, which also means you get it over someone else, then you’re technically committing fraud.
This can be particularly damaging in certain industries like medicine, law or engineering, where workers need specific qualifications to get the job.
Some of these industries include:
Medicine and healthcare: Where lying about qualifications can actually put people’s lives at risk.
Law: Lying about legal training can result in being banned from the industry or, in extreme cases, jail time.
Commercial flying: Lying about flight experience could lead to serious consequences. In fact, A British Airways pilot sent to prison for 12 months for lying about his experience.
Finance: For jobs like accounting, you need specific qualifications to act on behalf of clients. Failure to do so could result in you being sued by clients and lead to fraud sentencing.
What Are The Consequences of Lying On Your CV?
Aside from legal issues, lying on your CV can have other consequences too, such as:
Being Fired
Even if you’ve been at the company for a significant period of time, you can still lose your job for lying on your CV.
This doesn’t only affect your current job, but can also mean you struggle to get future jobs if you get poor references as a result.
Reputational Damage
Especially if you’re in a public-facing job or working in a tight-knit industry, lying on your CV can have serious implications for your future employment.
Word spreads quickly within industries, and this could seriously harm your ability to secure more work in the future.
Fines
If lying on your CV puts the company you work for at risk, you might have to pay a hefty fine. Putting a company at risk makes you liable to being sued, so think carefully before you decide to embellish any stories.
Common CV Lies
According to Lie Detector Test, 1 in 3 Brits have lied on their CV at least once and 1 in 4 admit to lying regularly.
According to YouGov, the most common lies are:
- Education and qualifications (40%)
- Length of time in a job (35%)
- Level of experience (30%)
- Personal interests (29%)
- Current or previous job titles (21%)
However, some of these can have serious consequences.
The Risk You Take For Lying On Your CV
Lying about qualifications
Depending on your industry, lying about your qualifications can have serious consequences, including jail time.
However, nowadays employers will regularly ask for certificates of qualification during the application process to make sure you’re telling the truth. It’s not uncommon, especially in areas like law and finance, for companies to want to see the certificates directly to verify your claims before offering the job.
Lying about employment dates
In most jobs, businesses will call up previous employers to check the dates you worked for them. That way, you’ll be found out pretty quickly if you’re lying about the time spent working there.
If you took some time off or were made redundant and don’t want to advertise it, you can write something vague like “time off for family”. If your employer wants to know more, it’s important to be honest. You don’t want to secure the job by being misleading.
Lying about your previous salary
It might sound like the oldest trick in the book, tell a company you got paid a certain amount to encourage them to pay you more to move over.
Whilst you definitely shouldn’t lie, it does help if you look at market rates and make a case for the salary you want based on your experience. Present it like a business case, not a lie.
Lying about your job role
We all want to make ourselves sound impressive, but lying about your roles and responsibilities is a bad idea.
Businesses, during their reference checks, will ask about your job role and time at the company. If you want to big yourself up, it’s better to talk about how you contributed to the role and the results that you helped drive, rather than making yourself sound more senior than you were.
How Employers Might Spot Lies On Your CV
It’s very rare for a company nowadays to look at a CV, offer a job and not conduct any reference checks. They do this by:
- Asking for certificates for necessary qualifications
- Calling previous employers to verify how long you worked for them and what your role was
- Asking you to complete a skills based test so you can showcase your competency
That way, you know it’s pretty likely that the company will find out if you lie on your CV, so it’s much better not to do it in the first place.
How To Bulk Up Your CV
Instead of resorting to lying, it might be better just to bulk out your CV in creative ways.
For example, have a look at any online courses that might help you upskill for the role. If these come with certificates, even better!
If you don’t have work experience, why not volunteer? These roles are much easier to secure and can help you showcase the skills you need for the job.
Look for charities, local volunteering drives or community centres – they will definitely appreciate the extra hands!
And finally, try and think of examples where you have shown transferrable skills elsewhere. If you’re applying for a writing role, show pieces you’ve written independently. Likewise if you’re applying to be part of a team, sports and other activities can showcase the skills you need, without you having to lie.
Is Lying On Your CV Worth It?
Definitely not.
Lying on your CV puts you at risk of losing the job, damaging your reputation and in the worst case, being sued.
Instead of lying, think about creative ways that you can jazz it up and showcase the skills, without pulling examples out of thin air.
Besides, with modern referencing and background checks, you’re sure to be found out.
Remember, honesty is the best policy!
