The crooked path to a new job

One in four people lies when applying for a job, according to a study of 10,435 employee screening programmes by Control Risks Group, the security company.

The screens, carried out in the past 12 months on candidates in financial services and information technology, found falsification across all levels of position. About 34 per cent of applications contained discrepancies in employment history, while 32 per cent exaggerated or falsified academic qualifications. A total of 19 per cent tried to cover up a poor credit history or bankruptcy and 11 per cent omitted identifying details.

The seniority of the job did not significantly affect the rate of truth-bending, as 20 per cent of the screens were for "very senior positions" and 40 per cent were in middle management. But on the whole candidates avoided grave distortions, preferring, for example, to bump exam results up slightly rather than transform a third-class degree into a first.

John Conyngham, global director of investigations at CRG, says he was surprised at the consistency of falsification. But he also says employers were "fairly lenient" about minor discrepancies. "Some are perhaps a bit too lax. If it is a minor overstatement in the nature of previous employment, it is unlikely it would result in a refusal [to consider the candidate]," he says.

In a tight jobs market, the age-old desire of individuals for their record to reflect their sense of personal pride explains much of the embellishment, according to CRG. But Mr Conyngham says investigators pay careful attention to the reasons why setbacks occur in a person's career, rather than make blanket assumptions.

"Being made redundant is relatively common but the reason is important. A lot of people simply do not get on with their boss and they are perfectly frank about it. But if it is a sacking for a certain cause, that is very serious. You get a feel for it - whether the explanation sounds credible, or not."

Bizarrely, some candidates appear willing to put already successful careers in jeopardy with curious fibs. One applicant, for example, aged 30 and with a flourishing career and salary in the financial sector, decided to falsify her O-level results to secure a promotion. She claimed to have passed them all, with the exception of religion, which she put down as afail. In fact she had failed them all with the exception of religion, which she had passed.

Elsewhere there are optimistic attempts to turn bad news into good. One candidate claimed on her application form that she had done voluntary work at an old people's home after giving up work to become a housewife. In fact, she had been dismissed from her job, convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to four months' imprisonment, which was later commuted to community service because she had a young family. The place of her punishment? An old people's home. Another candidate was registered as a director of one company. But a search revealed he was a director of three others that he had not disclosed, which were traced to a separate address. Against his name stood a county court judgment.

Men are significantly more given to falsification than women on their resumes and application forms; of those with distortions, 60 per cent are from men and 40 per cent are from women. On the issue of income, men are twice as likely as women to exaggerate their earnings.

The difference between a salary and a bonus provides fertile ground for cheats. When a candidate for an IT position found out he was being investigated, he quickly rang researchers to explain a discrepancy between his claimed income and his real one.

The real one, he explained, did not take account of his bonus. Yet further digging showed that he was not entitled to a bonus at all. The IT industry is most accustomed to falsification, although other factors also increase the risk. Candidates who have lived abroad (50 per cent of the screens involve international research) are more likely to fudge their credit history, thinking they will not be caught out. Young people are most likely to overstate the level of responsibility they have had. However, on the specific question of fraud at work, the typical fraudster emerges as female, under 40 and in a sales or marketing department.

Tim Nicholson, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says the study is in line with other research, which found that a quarter of job-seekers are dishonest. "A resume is only ever part of the process of recruitment," he says. "If recruiters take as fact what is written on a piece of paper, they have not done their job properly. It requires skill and dedication. Everyone understands the difference between fraudulent presentation and gilding the lily."

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