CV Writers top tips for writing a CV. “Would I lie to you honey?”

CV Writers continues its series of top tips for a tip top CV.

Well, um, according to research the answer is ‘yes’, somewhere between a quarter and a third of CVs contain blatant fibs.

Made up job titles, fake nationalities, degrees from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they’ve all featured in CVs at some point (except may be the last one). It does appear people can resort to desperate measures in order to secure that interview.

Okay, but should I lie on my CV?

You could be forgiven that the advice is somewhat confusing: Whilst a senior NHS manager was jailed last year for lying on her CV, Alan Sugar hired Lee McQueen in 2008 despite Lee acknowledging his CV may have been a bit, well, dodgy.

The answer is no. There’s no need to lie on your CV. You’re looking for a job where you want to succeed in the long term.

What’s the point in making false claims that might see you struggle to perform? If you’re not getting the interviews you should then it’s probably down to the presentation of your CV. There are lots of free CV review services out there that can help (but please check out CV Writers first!).

Besides, wouldn’t it eat away at your conscience? Say you did tell a big porky and got the job, every day you were laughing and joking with colleagues you’d know in the back of your mind you shouldn’t really be there. So I guess that one’s down to each individual to decide for themselves.

Let CV Writers know if you’ve had any encounters with people fibbing on their CV?