Widespread embellishment on professional qualifications highlights need for stronger verification measures
Most employees are now engaging in an emerging practice dubbed as "careerfishing" in order to land a job, according to a new report, underscoring the need for employers to deploy stronger verification measures during recruitment to ensure that they're hiring the right talent.
Careerfishing has been defined by hire-to-retire screening platform GCheck as the "systemic fabrication of qualifications across résumés and interviews as a deliberate competitive strategy."
In its recent report, GCheck found that 93% of jobseekers are engaging in this practice in order to appear more qualified for a vacant role.
This includes exaggerating their expertise to better match a position (61%) and inflating the impact or scope of their previous roles (47%), according to the report.
Nearly half of jobseekers also admitted to making up stories during interviews to better answer questions (47%) and adjusting their employment dates to hide gaps (45%).
What's driving 'careerfishing'?
The highly competitive hiring environment is driving many jobseekers to embellish or lie about their professional qualifications, according to the report.
Nearly three in four (72%) respondents said they feel the increased pressure to do so because of the current environment, while 62% said being on the job search for an extended period made the exaggeration necessary in order to compete.
In fact, 60% of jobseekers do not think they would have been hired if they had presented their qualifications more accurately.
Another driver of "careerfishing" during hiring is the perception that employers do not carry out verification measures, according to the findings.
More than half of employees (53%) admitted that they exaggerated because they did not believe employers would verify everything on their CV.
"As confidence in traditional background checks has eroded, it has created space for what we're calling 'careerfishing,' where candidates misrepresent their professional identity to secure employment," said Houman Akhavan, founder and CEO of GCheck, in a statement.
The risks of 'careerfishing'
But misrepresenting professional qualifications can have consequences for both employers and employees, according to the report.
More than a third of jobseekers (39%) who engaged in careerfishing said they experienced stress or anxiety once they were hired.
Another 25% said they faced negative consequences at work because their skills did not match their CV, while 28% said exaggerating their skills ultimately cost them the job after they were discovered.
For organisations, the impact is also severe. A report from Talogy last year found that poor-quality hires led to decreased productivity and efficiency.
Other consequences include high turnover rates, increased safety incidents, as well as higher costs associated with rehiring or training.
Verification needed amid 'careerfishing'
The practice of careerfishing is the result of pressures faced by employees and employers during hiring.
For employees, the highly competitive hiring environment is driving them to embellish and lie to recruiters.
For employers, the surge in applications from jobseekers is overwhelming them and leading to challenges in identifying what is authentic, according to the report.
This is aligned with previous findings globally, where employers in Australia, Hong Kong, and New Zealand observe surging volumes of job candidates.
Akhavan said stronger and more transparent verification during the recruitment process will be critical to ensure that employers are hiring qualified talent.
"The answer isn't to add friction to hiring, it's to strengthen verification so organisations can ensure the people they hire are truly qualified to do the job," Akhavan said.
