When writing your CV, it's important to frame your work experience in the best possible light.
Simply listing the tasks you were responsible for in previous roles won't make you as competitive as someone who demonstrates they went above and beyond their job description, detailing their personal achievements. But how far would you go to make your CV look good? Would you lie?
New research has found that 10% of Brits lie on their CV. YouGov researchers also revealed that a further 2% said they'd "prefer not to say" whether they'd been untruthful on theirs.
The most common lies people admitted to including on their CVs.
Of the 874 adults surveyed who admitted to lying on their CV, people were most likely to lie about their education and qualifications - with 40% admitting they'd made their educational achievements sound better than they really are.
Other common CV lies included the length of time spent in a job (35%), followed by level of experience (30%) and personal interests (29%).
21% admitted to manipulating the truth about their current or previous job titles, with a small percentage saying they had lied on their CV about their age (3%) and their name (1%). This latter statistic may be explained by a recent BBC investigation, which uncovered significant bias in the hiring process towards candidates with English-sounding names.
How seriously do employers view different CV lies?
YouGov researchers also revealed the lies employers would take most seriously. They surveyed over 1,000 senior business decision makers, finding they'd consider an applicant lying about their name to be the worst CV misrepresentation - with 72% classing it as "very serious".
This was followed by the most common CV lie, relating to education and qualifications, which was considered to be a "very serious" thing to lie about by 63% of employers surveyed.
If you're guilty of making your personal interests sound a bit more interesting than they really are, though, that won't cause quite so much damage if you're found out. Only 9% of employers considered that to be a "very serious" thing to fabricate.
For tips on how to make your CV look and sound amazing, without twisting the truth, you can start with this free CV template and guide.