Lies and Bloopers on CVs

I love stuff like this..

Forty-Six Per cent of UK Employers Have Caught a Lie on a CV, According to CareerBuilder.co.uk

CareerBuilder asked hiring managers to share the most memorable or outrageous mistakes they came across on CVs.  Examples include:

·         Wrote “yes please” in the section of application that asked Sex – Male or Female?

·         Touted her “aquatic research” at the University of “Whales”

·         Wrote “I am good at speling”

·         Touted a degree from Oxford University in Cambridgeshire

·         Claimed to be a project manager on a very large project – interviewer’s son was actually the project manager

·         Male applicant included the name of the school he attended – it was an all girls school

·         Said worked for company starting in 1966, but was not born until 1978

·         Two candidates for the same job had the exact same opening paragraph – they were friends

·         Said he served in a particular war, but the dates were completely wrong

·         Claimed to have a job at a previous company that was actually the interviewer’s job at that company

The most common lies UK employers say they find on CVs include:

·         Embellished responsibilities: 34 per cent

·         Skill set: 27 per cent

·         Dates of employment: 10 per cent

·         Companies worked for: 9 per cent

·         Academic degree: 9 per cent

·         Job title: 8 per cent

The press release included some tips for jobseekers and the one which caught my eye was entitled “Stand out from the crowd”.  It states that one-third of hiring managers said on average they spend 60 seconds or less looking at a CV when first reviewing an application.  I used to work with a guy who screened CVs at the rate of 3 a minute with a shout (to himself) of “next please” as he chucked each “unsucessful” applicant’s CV into the bin!  Of course, I’m sure there are no recruiters like that around any more!