Desparate applicants lying to beat recession

Untruthful CVs have been something recruiters have always had to deal with, but a survey by pre-employment checks firm Powerchex has discovered that in the financial sector, job applicants are attempting to deceive firms in the financial services more and more.

Of 4735 job applications made to financial firms between June 2008 and May 2009, 19 percent of applicants are attempting to deceive their employers with false or misleading information. This constitutes a 12 percent increase from the previous year, and marks a three year high.

The largest increase in untruthful applicants was in the under 21 year old age range. They lied on their CVs and applications nearly 30 percent more often than they did last year. This drastic swing shows yet another way in which the recession is affecting young people, who are competing for disappearing graduate jobs and summer internships. Having been the most truthful age group last year, under 21 year olds are now among the least.

David Willetts, Shadow Minster for Universities and skills, said: “Young people are the biggest victims of the recession. The employment rate of graduates was falling even before the recession took hold. We now have record levels of young people not in education, employment or training. Ministers are letting our young people down. Youth unemployment can scar individuals for life.”

The survey shows that 18 percent of under 21 year olds are prepared to lie or hide information on their applications. The survey’s findings come at a time when 970,000 young people are reported to be unemployed. Alexandra Kelly, Managing Director of Powerchex, said: “It’s unfortunate to see that more young people are reacting to the pressure in this way. Their socio economic group has been one of the hardest hit.”

To combat this, Alexandra says: “HR Departments need to make sure they have a pre-employment screening program in place that takes account of the different risk levels that an employee represents for the organisation. The risk level may or may not be related to the seniority of that employee. For example, an employee may be low down in the pecking order but be trusted with access to sensitive customer information. Once HR Departments have assessed risk levels and put this sort of screening system in place they must make sure that it is agreed and accepted at their business.”

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14 August 2009