More lie about qualifications in tougher environment

The downturn in the economy has depressed the demand for talent in the job market, according to Lawrence Wordon, the MD of PAG. “Job vacancies are limited,” he said, “with companies avoiding extra cost by choosing to distribute additional work-load among existing staff members.” But he has also noted a number of interesting trends that have emerged over the past year. “These include the fact that the negotiating process between the client and candidate seems strained in the current economic environment,” Wordon told FTW. “The appointment and acceptance decision process is unusually slow, with clients prolonging the procedure which is often resulting in the candidate withdrawing. “We are also seeing that good candidates are choosing to remain in their current employment.” “From a candidate perspective, we have been alarmed by the growing number of job candidates misrepresenting their qualifications and work history which is again possibly due to the tough climate.” This is not just a thumbsuck, Wordon added, pointing to firm figures available to confirm this trend. “Our personal verification agency has revealed statistics that show 34% percent of job applicants falsify their experience, education and abilities.” He said. “Furthermore, 33% give inaccurate dates of employment; 30% exaggerate their accomplishments; 11% misrepresent their reasons for leaving their previous employer; 10% are dishonest about their backgrounds; and 9% falsify their qualifications, employers and previous work roles. “Worse still, 15% of all criminal checks submitted by us came back positive; 17% of the qualification checks submitted were returned unconfirmed; 30% of credit history requests revealed a negative history; 8% of ID verification checks proved to be incorrect; 16% of drivers’ licence checks came back negative; and 4% of fraud checks came back positive.” Questioned about what effect this scene has had on salaries, Wordon told FTW that salaries had stabilised within the freight industry. “Generally speaking, salary increases have stayed put – or have increased in line with inflation rates.”