Our latest research has revealed that nearly two in three jobseekers had discrepancies in their applications in the first half of 2016.
Employment was found to be the biggest area for issues in applications, with 33% having errors when going through a background check. These discrepancies could be incorrect details about their work history, for example, an inaccurate job title, or an error in dates of employment.
Education slipped into second place for errors, with background checks discovering 32% of applications contained incorrect information regarding the grade, qualification, institution or course date.
With the recent introduction of the FCA regulations governing the financial services industry, screening has been thrust into the limelight. Our research showed this industry to have a higher than average rate of discrepancies – 68% of applications in financial services were inaccurate in the first half of 2016, with a staggering high of 71% in February.
As Steve Girdler, Managing Director EMEA says, “We’re in a time of economic uncertainty and the temptation could be to rush applications or exaggerate claims to beat the competition. More and more businesses are carrying out thorough due diligence so, for jobseekers, accuracy and honesty is absolutely key in order to ensure your chances of being hired.”
Our research was based on analysis of more than 500,000 checks of 70,000 applications in the first half of 2016.