Employers should be wary of older candidates who may be tempted to lie on their CVs to secure themselves an interview.

That is the advice being issued by the Recruitment Society, which has suggested that more mature candidates may lie because they think no one will check their degree results.

Steve Huxham, chairman of the Recruitment Society, explained that candidates who graduated up to 20 years ago may think that employers will not bother to check their qualifications because of the time that has elapsed since they graduated.

Commenting on the tough competition in the job market, Mr Huxham said: "We see, year-on-year, the degree results picking up, so the number of people who get firsts and 2:1s now, compared to ten, 15, 20 years ago,
is obviously higher."

He suggested that older candidates may believe that having 20 years of experience behind them will count for a lot.

Statistics from the CV Survey published by the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors has suggested that the majority of job seekers are honest.

It revealed that 69.1 per cent of those who had been surveyed had neither lied nor embellished details on their CV to secure a job.

Related News:

• Outplacement Support More Important Than Ever
• Competition means candidates more likely to lie, research reveals
• Over 85% of SMEs won’t hire more staff this year predicts survey
• Looking for a new job? It could be a long wait
• Job seekers reject pension reforms
• Students and graduates “turned off” seeking vital summer work experience
• Taskforce calls for action to avoid ‘lost generation’
• Friends Provident shows graduates how to rise to the University challenge
• Bad recruitment is damaging employer brands claims survey
• Outplacement ‘may benefit employees’