May 2008

People are committing fraud by lying on their CVs

An increasing number of candidates are lying on their CVs in the hope of being employed. But those who lie about their qualifications are actually committing fraud, said Karen Geldenhuys, MD of Pretoria-based IT and disabled-focused recruitment company, Abacus Recruitment.

“There was recently a case where a candidate – who was ultimately employed – lied about his qualifications. When his employer found out that he had been lying they couldn’t simply fire him – they had to open a fraud case against him. This cost the company involved a lot in terms of lost time and money.” She said there is a “worrying increase in the number of job seekers who are lying on their CVs”.

“We spend a good part of our time, as recruiters, checking and double checking the veracity of CVs. At the end of the day this can add up to a lot of time. I am almost tempted to say that we should encourage the government to introduce new legislation that allows recruitment agencies to make candidates sign agreements stating that if they lie about their qualifications on their CVs –and they end up being employed – that their employer is allowed to fire them on the spot if they discover they have been lying, without them having the recourse to turn to the courts for ‘unfair dismissal’. Of course, this is a pipedream,” she quipped. “But it would certainly help recruitment agencies and employers – and it would probably stop job-seekers from lying in the first place.”

Geldenhuys said that what is exacerbating this problem is the skills shortage. “In many instances companies are in a rush to find candidates because they urgently need jobs to be filled. Pressure is placed on us to find the correct skills as fast as possible and employers are perhaps a tad hasty when it comes to employment decisions. But when there are projects to be completed and important, vacant posts to be filled, this is understandable.”

She further noted that until fairly recently only a handful of job seekers were guilty of lying in their CVs. But now 10% - or more – of CVs are “not worth the paper they are written on”. “The way things are going now, I wouldn’t be surprised if this figure increases to more than 20% in the not too distant future. It is a sorry state of affairs.”