Embellished skill sets most common fabrications by job seekers

When it comes to hiring, employers have found that a large number of aspirants tend to exaggerate their skill sets and even fabricate employment history, says a survey.

About 78 per cent of hiring managers have found a lie on a job seeker's CV (curriculum vitae) and more than half of these employers have seen growing instances of embellishment of the bio-data in the post-recession period, according to a survey by online job site CareerBuilder India.

Among the most common lies, embellished skill set was the most common fabrication caught by majority of the employers (61 per cent) followed by companies worked for (50 per cent).
Besides, other frequently used lies pertained to embellished responsibilities (49 per cent), dates of employment (47 per cent), job title (46 per cent), awards/ recognitions (35 per cent) and academic degree (30 per cent).

"While most jobseekers presume by adding things here or there the chance of they getting shortlisted might increase, however they do not realise that the recruiters on the other side have sufficient experience to map competencies and achievements mentioned,"
CareerBuilder India managing director Premlesh Machama said.

"Most importantly recruiters can very well identify gaps between profile on the CV and the jobseeker in person at the time of the interview," he added.

As per the survey, about 28 per cent said they would dismiss a candidate if they caught a lie on the biodata, while 58 per cent said there decision to reject would depend up on what the lie was about.

Another 14 per cent showed willingness to overlook a lie if they liked the candidate.
The survey also revealed that 59 per cent employers spend more than two minutes reviewing each CV; 23 per cent take less than 60 seconds, and 11 per cent, 30 seconds or less.