It’s a recurring nightmare that shocks you awake sweating – the inevitable certainty that, years from now, those sexed-up highlights you sneaked into your CV will come back to haunt you. Peter Fryer explains why there’s no such thing as a white lie when it comes to CVs.

It is common wisdom that what goes around, comes around. Which can make lying on your CV one of the scariest experiences of your whole life – what if it actually works?
What if, like the man who applied for a position out East as an English language expert, you actually get the job, complete with impressed “oohs” and “aahs” at your amazing capabilities? Wonderful isn’t it, that good fortune smiles on you? So easy to forget – and life goes on.
The years pass. You rise up through the ranks – head of section, head of department, all the way up to the very highest position. And now, as a special accolade – and with famous Oriental courtesy – your employer celebrates your appointment to top office by inviting you to lead a group of respected colleagues back to the UK to visit your old alma mater, say, the University of Kent at Canterbury.
All that honour and privilege; a very public salute to your brilliant career. You’ll have to show them the sights, take them to your old drinking-holes. Except that you’ve never been to Canterbury ever – that was just a little tweak to make your CV sparkle.

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An Employer’s Perspective on your CV
Things to think of when you write it:

• I don’t know who you are.
• I don’t know your background.
• I don’t know if you can be trusted.
• I don’t know who you’ve worked for.
• I don’t know your performance record.
• I don’t know what your capabilities are.
• I don’t know your professional reputation.

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Found out!

The ultimate horror? Count on it, it WILL happen. If not now, then at some time in the future. It’s become an unfortunate fact of life; so many people lie to get ahead that running a background check is already routine.
OK, so there’s the short-term gain of actually landing the job. But it’s a long way to fall after forty years of success – with a family, friends, a house and brand-new Toyota Prius to lose.
Of course that lie could be a mistake, a little over-claim so that maybe something looks like more than it should. Heaven knows, there are mistakes enough in most CVs – so many, in fact, it’s a wonder any are accepted.
Your name, for instance, is that a lie or a spelling mistake? Don’t laugh, so many people forget to check their own information, getting their own name wrong just happens.

 

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Items to support your CV:

Cover letter
Like the CV itself, it needs to be short, sharp and businesslike. One page only, three short paragraphs maximum – and loaded with keywords to turn your recruiter on. Why? Because although they’re essential, cover letters get even less attention than CVs. They’re also scanned rather that read, the only way to get through thousands of them quickly. Read the job spec carefully and use keywords to make you look like an asset.
References
So many people misrepresent themselves, you need reliable proof that you’ve worked where you say you have, done what you say you’ve done, and your ex-boss thinks you’re a good bet. Like the rest of your package, references should be short and to the point. And no pally stuff from friends, this is business.
Proof of ID
There is an increasing number of people who are not necessarily who they say they are and do not have the necessary permit to work in UK. Even if you’ve lived here for generations, make sure you have yours.
Qualifications
In the computer age it’s become too easy to dummy up a degree, so genuine copies are going to come in handy. O-levels/GCSEs, A-levels and NVQs might be checked too – no employer can afford to take chances any more. Provide copies of course, not originals (as long as they’re authentic!), you don’t want them to go astray.
Competency certificates
Look at yourself carefully from the capabilities angle. You’re more than the person you were when you started work, aren’t you? And somehow you’ve picked up a whole load of skills, all of which are necessary in modern business, particularly working with computers. Through an online test facility like ClickATest.co.uk, you can now verify these skills and prove them with internationally-recognised ISO 9001-2000 certificates – hard evidence of your work-related capabilities.

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Step away from your desk, sir

Actually, if you do lie on your CV there’s a pretty good chance it won’t get picked up – unless you’re going through an agency. That’s because CVs get scanned more than read, and with sometimes upwards of 3,000 applicants applying for the same job, that’s hardly surprising. Agencies are more likely to check you out. They could get hit for fraud if they misrepresent you, enough to put them right out of business. Which means they have to be sure. They have to verify your ID by law in any case, so checking your qualifications, job history and references is par for the course.
Because CVs are scanned more than read, a lie can get both missed by a HR manager under pressure to get results and picked up by a computer doing a routine background check.

Doing it the hard way

Your CV is also scanned to assess your match against a job, so don’t go creating screeds of persuasive prose. It won’t get read anyway – and without nice relevant subheads to classify your claims by category, a computer will miss it too – or dismiss it as irrelevant. In fact, praise be for those systems that ask you to input section by section, line by line – where ‘all boxes are mandatory and do not exceed 1,400 characters’. Because all those fields demand values against them, your skills can be picked up and noticed, your track record recognised and recommended.
Fill them in and you stand a better chance of being found, matched against a job specification and offered a position. Yes, it’s a pain, but do you want the job or don’t you?
You should in fact be thankful. All those boxes prevent waffle – and just maybe discourage you from lying in the first place. Not that you ever would of course, but it’s good to reduce the temptation.

Plane common sense

Don’t try sexing up that personal image of yourself either, even the smallest throwaway can bring you down. One hopeful put down skydiving as a leisure activity, intending to look like a determined go-getter. Three days later – surprise, surprise – the interview panel included a skydiving enthusiast. Exposed by questions about conical canopies versus PDAs and how to exit a Twin Otter DHC6, another otherwise promising career hit the ground hard.
So how DO you come across well in a CV? If it’s scanned not read and everything is going to be checked, how do you stand out from the possibly hundreds of others applying for the same position?
One sure way is to point to your achievements, what you actually did in your previous jobs when you had them. Even the lowliest job can demonstrate initiative and drive. Just stick to the facts, without embellishment. Think about it as if you were the boss. You don’t really want to know what somebody HAS done, do you? You want to know how much they CAN do.
It’s about attitude. The world’s most brilliant whiz-kid scores zero if there’s no heart behind the talent, or passion to drive forward. Show commitment and staying power, and suddenly you’re just as competitive as anyone else.

 

Peter Fryer is PR & Communications Executive at ClickAJob.co.uk. ClickAJob is one of the UK’s largest online job search engines, with over a million job vacancies. The company is part of a dedicated Human Resources group that includes ClickATest, an online test centre and CAJ:Associates, a highly personal recruitment consultancy that combines traditional face-to-face service with web-based back-up and access 24/7.
Peter can be contacted on 01932 871 904 or pfryer@freshactionpr.co.uk.

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