News & Events

Graduates from top 20 'less likely to have CV lies'

Date posted:

24th July 2008

A new survey has revealed some interesting insights into graduate CVs.

A survey carried out by pre-employment screening firm Powerchex has revealed that people who graduate from the top 20 universities in the UK are less likely to lie on their CVs than those who attended lower-ranked institutions.

According to the organisation, only 14 per cent of graduates from universities such as Oxford and Cambridge had embellished their achievements, compared to 43 per cent of graduates from less critically-acclaimed schools, reports Onrec.com.

Meanwhile, arts and humanities graduates were found to be the most likely to have CV discrepancies (22 per cent), with maths graduates at the bottom of the list (six per cent).

Powerchex managing director Alexandra Kelly said: "What this survey says is that graduates from lesser-known universities may feel they need to alter their background to compete.

"There appears to be a trend that the lower ranked the university, the higher the likelihood of discrepancies on a CV."

The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2007, carried out by High Fliers research, found that only 27 per cent of arts and humanities students expected to get a graduate job at the end of their studies.

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