Hot to catch the CV cheats

1. Take the approach that everyone exaggerates in their CVs, advises psychologist Iain McCormick: "That's the universal law."

2. Take a random selection of what is claimed in the CV and check its validity. Job-seekers are often right in assuming checks aren't thorough. A British opinion poll last August which canvassed 1045 workers found that nearly 20 per cent of people think employers don't bother to check what applicants say or write.

Only one-third of companies check the educational qualifications claimed with the issuing bodies.

3. Make application forms a standard part of recruitment procedure.

Stagecoach human resources adviser Chloe Trollen advises that all job-hunters, of whatever level and whether they have sent a CV, fill in an application form while they wait for their interview, and sign the declaration of truthfulness that concludes it in front of the interview panel.

"People are more inclined to tell the truth in application forms because their signatures are on it."

New Plymouth consultant Lisa Hermann suggests this wording on job offers: "The offer of employment is based on information provided by the employee in their application form, resume, pre-employment questionnaire and formal job interview(s).

"If any false or misleading information was given or any material facts suppressed, the employee may be dismissed for serious misconduct."

4. Make sure your interviewing questions and technique are comprehensive and thorough.

Says Human Resources Institute of New Zealand member Grant Fraser:

"Ask for specific examples of previous behaviour and probe each example given. If something doesn't sound right, keep asking.

"If it still doesn't sound right, make it something you ask in reference checks.

"If you don't ask, they don't have to tell you. If an applicant deliberately lies or misleads, then you can, in the main, dismiss them. If you don't ask, your hands may be tied."

Says Shelley Turner, the HR manager for the Civil Aviation Authority: "I recently interviewed an applicant who, looking at her CV, appeared to have had several support roles in large organisations.

"It turned out that this was some work experience scheme organised by the polytech she was attending, and the assignments were only of a few days duration, and unpaid."

5. Observe how job-hunters respond to requests for more detail.

McCormick says: "If you suspect something, you need to ask for more and more detail in that area. It's very hard for you to keep lying once you get into the detail.

"People who do lie a lot can often be superficially very pleasant but tend to be pushy, and when they don't get their way can be aggressive.

"If you drill down and they become aggressive, that's then a sign that they are lying."

Sarah Edmonds, of PPS Recruitment and HR Services, advises drawing out a life story from every candidate.

"I have learned by bitter experience to meticulously work through people's life history, and I usually start from 'where did you grow up?' through to schooling, and so on.

"If things do not match up or are contradicted by the written CV, I keep going back to the candidate. Most people come clean and are relieved to give the straight story.

"Most commonly, people try to cover up or selectively forget a period. For instance, accounting for a job that lasted 1998 to 1999 can cover a period from a few months to two years. I try to pin people down."

One note of caution, though: "The fact is, some people do seem to have genuine trouble recalling dates and sequences of events," she says.

"In the end it may come down to the recruiter's gut feel, experience, and ability to communicate with the employer and the candidate."

6. Make police checks. Trollen says people applying for posts in Stagecoach management, as well as for driving jobs, undergo police checks - all are driving company vehicles.

Prospective staff sign a waiver allowing the information to be collected.

7. Ask for original documents to be produced at interview stage, suggests Liz Huckerby, of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Wellington.

However, she warns that when checking out qualifications with educational institutions, certification of degrees gained some years back can be hard to have confirmed quickly.

8. Pay may be a sensitive subject, but is easy to check against New Zealand salary surveys, says recruiter John Peebles.

However, one of Peebles' clients still insists on official verification such as a pay slip.

Employers should treat CV checking as if they were buying a house, he says, carefully, thoroughly, and with the help of outside experts.