Boost Juice founder Janine Allis says it’s OK to lie on your CV

One in five Australian resumes contains a lie, according to a background screening company, but a little embellishment is not always a big deal says Juice Boost founder Janine Allis.

Australian jobseekers are the biggest liars in the Asia Pacific region, with one in five resumes not matching up to reality — but a small fib is not a deal breaker for all employers.

Boost Juice founder Janine Allis supported the “fake it ‘til you make it” mantra and Harvey Norman co-founder Gerry Harvey cared more about a person’s drive.

Mrs Allis admitted to embellishing facts a little herself when she was younger.

“I think it’s OK — you are trying to get yourself an interview so if you can embellish or exaggerate your skill or experience or put emphasis on areas they are looking for (it makes sense),” she said.

Boost Juice founder Janine Allis says fake it ‘til you make it. Picture: Supplied

“(Employers) don’t hire on experience, they hire on attitude. The people who ‘fake it ‘til they make it’ have to try harder.”

Mr Harvey said often the people who did well in an interview or looked good on a CV were not the best fit for the job, anyway.

“I have a lot of people over the years that pass the interview test and others that fail then a strange situation where the ones that fail are sometimes better than the ones that pass,” he said.

“You don’t (immediately) know what is inside someone and what drives them.”

Gerry Harvey said interviews and CVs were not the only factor to consider when hiring. Picture: James Croucher

Sarina Russo, managing director of employment agency Sarina Russo Group, said it was pointless to lie on a resume.

“It’s so unnecessary because most HR people are more concerned with people’s transferable skills rather than direct industry experience,” she said.

“Rather than lying people should sell their personal brand.”

Sarina Russo says lies won’t help jobseekers. Picture: Supplied

Background screening company HireRight revealed 19.5 per cent of Australian resumes screened in 2018 contained information that did not match official records.

This compared to 12.5 per cent in India, 17 per cent in Hong Kong and 18.3 per cent in Singapore.

Discrepancies ranged from undisclosed criminal histories to inflated job titles, however not all were as outrageous as Myer’s 2014 appointment of general manager for strategy and business development Andrew Flanagan, who had lied about working for Inditex to land a $400,000 salary.

Andrew Flanagan, the American businessman hired and then sacked by Myer on his first day, after it found he had allegedly falsified his credentials. Picture: Steve Tanner

Meanwhile, reference checking software Xref found about one in 20 referees provided for call centre and high volume retail roles were fraudulent.

An applicant might list a legitimate name but give a fake email address monitored by them or a friend.

Xref chief executive Lee-Martin Seymour said these were usually caught out because they used the same device and location to apply for the job as supply the reference, or did not leave much time between requesting and submitting the reference.

“We monitor it and flag it and see suspicious behaviour and nine times out of 10 we are on the money,” he said.

Mr Seymour said CV fraud had always existed but new technology was making it harder to get away with — and people were being caught at all levels.

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Recruiter Justin Hinora has seen his share of shonky CVs. Picture: AAP

Professor Daryll Hull of Macquarie University’s Centre for Workforce Futures hoped to make CV fraud even more difficult within the next five years with a phone app his team is developing with the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC).

It would allow users to store verifiable records of their formal qualifications, micro-credentials and work experience throughout their career.

Hender Consulting executive consultant Justin Hinora said it was up to recruiters and employers to do their due diligence before hiring.

He recalled an applicant for a project management role who claimed to have a civil engineering degree from the University of Southern Queensland but, when Hender wanted to verify with the university, confessed to buying a fake transcript online.

“Eventually he said ‘you know it’s a fake … in the last 15 years I have had six jobs and no one has checked my qualification like you have’,” Mr Hinora said.

“He had no degree at all.”

Shanniah Morse has never needed a resume to land a job anyway. Picture: AAP

Brisbane business development manager Shanniah Morse said she had never needed to embellish her CV as her jobs had all come from knowing the right people, but she had once changed employment dates slightly to avoid questions about a short period she spent travelling.

“The only thing I have done is modify dates by one or two weeks to infill gaps of unemployment,” she said.

“You don’t want to lie about something that is huge or could be a safety issue or pretend to have degrees or experience you don’t, but definitely just flowering it up in general and making it look better (is OK).”

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