CV cheating…is it wise to bend the truth?

"I see from your CV that you attended both Oxford and Harvard, have worked as a project leader for Microsoft, a BBC foreign correspondent and were voted 'Miss Kazakhstan' in 1997…"

Everybody massages their attributes to suit the job to which they are applying, but there is a fine line between manipulating facts and creating fiction.

If you fabricate qualifications and employment history on your CV then you not only run the risk of being discovered, but also risk leaving your career in tatters and your reputation in ruins.

However, if an employer doesn't check your references and qualifications, and many employers do not have time, then you may get away with your deception. You will have secured yourself a job which would usually have been outside of your grasp.

The decision is yours, bear in mind that lying on your CV is a not something to be undertaken lightly, and is certainly not something that Online Graduate condones. It is a dangerous game that can, and most likely will, have serious consequences on your career.

Massaging the truth
Your CV should be individually tailored to each job you apply for. You should push to the fore the skills and desirable features of your background that are most relevant to the job to which you are applying.

The need to show the employer what they want to see, in doing so securing an interview, can lead to applicants falsifying the facts. For example a common deception is to exaggerate the time that you have worked in a previous position - writing 6 months instead of 4, or writing that you earned a 2:1 at degree level instead of a 2:2.

Applicants make all sorts of extravagant claims on their CVs. Some have been know to write a different degree qualification on each application they send out.

Top five CV fibs: