Employers involved in recruitment should be aware of a recent survey that revealed nearly a third of adults have embellished or lied about facts on their CV in an attempt to secure a job.

That is according to research undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA).

Commenting in light of the research, Peter Panayotou, senior consultant for The Write Stuff, said that a CV is not a "legal document" and therefore people "cannot be held legally liable for what is in [their] CV".

However, he warned job applicants that it could "affect [their] future employment if [they] are discovered lying" on their CV.

The CIEA research also revealed that three quarters of the working population believed employers made their assessment of candidates based on cognitive skills such as academic qualifications and previous work experience.

They believed skills such as communication, team-working and management were not taken into consideration at interview, despite workers believing these were crucial for success.