One in two employees plan to lie on resumes amid rising costs

One in two employees in the United States have confessed that they are likely to lie in their resumes amid rising costs of living, according to a new survey.

Standout CV's poll among over 2,100 Americans revealed that 56% said the high living costs are driving them to lie on a resume this year to try and secure a job.

"More people are looking to lie on their resume in 2024 to get that competitive edge in an increasingly volatile and challenging job market," said Andrew Fennell, former recruiter and director at StandOut CV, in a media release.

This comes as more than three in five respondents (64.2%) revealed that they have already lied in their resume at least once in the past, according to the report.

"2023 has created a new type of more aggressive job hunter prepared to cross the line," Fennell said.

What do jobseekers lie about?

Majority of the respondents (32.8%) said they lied about their previous salary, according to the report. Other things that they're not being honest about include:

• Skills relevant to the job (30.8%)
• Previous work experience (30.5%)
• College degree (29.6%)
• Job titles (28.4%)
• Experience with equipment/software (27.4%)
• Personal details (26.5%)
• High school information (26.5%)
• Employer references (25.4%)

The rise of artificial intelligence is also impacting behaviours of jobhunters, with 73.4% saying they would consider using the technology to lie on their resume.

Another 51.6% said they would consider using the AI tools to answer interview questions for them during a video or phone interview if they could afford it.

Despite this, 57% acknowledge that using AI to answer interview questions could be a form of dishonesty, according to the report.

Getting caught on a resume

Fennell warned that employees planning to lie on their resumes and during the interview process that their actions will have consequences when caught.

Among the 64.2% who were caught lying in the past, 81.4% said they had been caught at some point.The most common consequence of lying during recruitment is having the job offer withdrawn (35.5%), according to the report. Those who were found after being offered the job or already starting the job said consequences include getting a fine or an earnings adjustment.

There are other cases, however, where those who committed fraud in their resume had to resign.

"Recruiters expect little white lies that may embellish someone's work accomplishments, but lying about college degrees and former employment history is a quick way to get discarded and blocked from ever interviewing at that company again," Fennell said.

Stacie Haller, chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder.com, also said they would no longer work with jobseekers lying during recruitment.

"Recruiters, headhunters, hiring managers, and HR professionals will remember you if you are caught lying, and this can follow a candidate for several years. When caught it can cost you your professional reputation," Haller said in a previous statement.

"In today's world, very little remains private, so lies may be discovered in many ways. Backdoor references are common so candidates may never know if during the hiring process someone is speaking to an individual they know or worked with in the past."

Fennell also warned those planning to use AI to write their resumes that their document could end up looking similar to others considering how many people are planning to use AI tools for their resumes.

"Stand out from the competition and craft your own personalized document," Fennell said.