Common types of résumé fraud - Date inflation — stretching tenure to hide gaps or short stints. - Designation inflation — a senior title that does not match the employer’s records. - Fake or unrecognised degrees — certificates from institutions that are not accredited or from degree mills. - Fabricated employers — companies that do not exist or never employed the candidate. - Concealed terminations — leaving out an employer that ended the relationship for cause. - Concurrent employment — holding multiple full-time roles while claiming exclusivity.
Red flags in a résumé - Dates that are all round numbers, or timelines that do not add up. - Employers with no verifiable footprint. - Vague job descriptions without outcomes or tools. - Seniority that does not match years of experience. - Unexplained gaps, or a gap hidden by listing years instead of months.
Red flags in an interview - Difficulty describing projects the résumé claims to have led. - Inconsistent answers about reporting lines or team size. - Reluctance to share references or consent to verification.
Red flags are signals, not proof. Many honest candidates have gaps, short stints and imperfect résumés. Verify before you conclude.
Why a résumé review is not enough A résumé is a self-description. No amount of careful reading can confirm that a degree was awarded or that an employer actually issued a relieving letter. The only reliable approach is to check claims against the issuing source.
A fair verification approach 1. Verify shortlisted candidates, not everyone who applies. 2. Use independent sources rather than documents supplied by the candidate alone. 3. Record what was checked, when, and with whom. 4. Share any discrepancy with the candidate and let them respond. 5. Decide under a written policy applied consistently.
How common is résumé fraud? Published estimates vary widely between surveys and vendors, and few are independently audited, so treat any single headline percentage with caution. What is consistent across the industry is that discrepancies of some kind — most often dates and designations — turn up regularly enough that skipping verification is not a safe strategy.
Where MyHireScore helps MyHireScore gives HR a date-stamped verification status on shortlisted candidates before the interview, showing which of the four checks are complete and which flagged. Read about employment verification or see a sample report.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common résumé lie?
Estimates differ by source, but inflated dates and designations are consistently reported as among the most frequent, because they are easy to add and hard to spot by eye.
Can I reject a candidate based on a gap in employment?
Gaps are common and have many legitimate causes. A gap on its own is a reason to ask a question, not a reason to reject.
Should every candidate be verified?
Most teams verify shortlisted or final-stage candidates, and scale the depth of checks to the seniority and risk of the role.