Fraud alert: Over half of applicants surveyed will lie to get a job in 2024

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The most common thing people had lied about was their salary at previous jobs (32.8%), followed by their skills (30.8%), and their previous work experience (30.5%).

Getting the right talent for the company is never an easy job for a hiring manager. Apart from evaluating skills, experiences, and cultural fits, one more important thing is to tell if the candidates are telling the truth.

Alarmingly, more than half of the respondents in the US said that they would lie to get a job they really wanted, according to the latest survey by StandOut CV.

*While the survey was conducted in the US, HRO believes the results remain relevant to our readership in Asia.

Among over 2,100 surveyed Americans, 64.2% on average have lied about their personal details, skills, experience, or references on their resumes at least once, compared to 55% who said yes to this question in the previous year.

The most common thing people had lied about was their salary at previous jobs (32.8%), followed by their skills (30.8%), and their previous work experience (30.5%).

Other things people lie about on their resumes include:

• 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 survey also found that almost three-quarters of respondents (73.4%) said they would consider using AI tools in 2024 to help lie on their resume, while more than half (51.6%), said they would consider using apps that generate answers to interview questions during a video or phone interview if it was affordable.

As well as those who said they had provided false information on their resumes or job applications, three in five (60%) of respondents said they had lied in a job interview, slightly higher than the 54.4% who lied on their resume. This could be something as small as discussing the depth of their project input, or could be completely lying about past work experience. What’s more, a vast majority (46%) said they would likely lie on their next job interview, while only 11.9% thought they wouldn’t.

Who lied the most?

Looking into different industries, those working in the arts and creative industries were the most likely to lie (79.8%), followed by retail and hospitality workers (76.6%), and those in the education sector (69.8%);

The survey also discovered that men were more likely to have lied on their resumes than women (65.6% vs 63.3%).

When looking at age ranges, the study found that younger people were more likely to have lied on their resumes. People aged 18-25 were the most likely to have lied (80.4%), followed by Millennials (64.9%). Those aged 57-65 were the least likely to lie (40.5%) followed by seniors (46.9%).

Research suggests that candidates may lie about their personal details to avoid age or racial discrimination.

Catch them if you can

Interestingly, not everyone who have previously lied on their resumes gets caught. Of those who said they had lied, 81.4% said they had been caught out at some point, be that through serious conversations, or caught on a little white lie, while 18.6% were never caught.

For those who were caught, most lies were uncovered before the job. The most common stage was during the interview process, with 31.5% of people being found to have lied on their resume during a job interview, while 23.7% were caught prior to that. Another quarter (25.8%) were found out after the interview process, 12.7% after being offered the job, and only 4.3% after starting the job.

Overall, 84.1% of people who accepted a job offer after lying said that they could still complete the daily tasks of the job with no problems. This likely indicates a successful job interview process in most cases to remove anyone without the necessary skills, but also could reflect those who told smaller lies that wouldn’t affect their competency at work.

When it came to consequences, the most common response was that the job offer was withdrawn (35.5%), while 19.9% saw a fine or an earnings adjustment.

Lead image / 123RF