3 in 10 people lie to get a job: research

Lies are fast becoming the ladder for India’s corporate climbers. And India Inc is slipping.

Three in every 10 job seekers fake it on their CVs to get a job, reveals at least three recent surveys conducted across the country between January 2007 and March 2008. Dishonesty ranged from inflating salaries and submitting fake certificates, including fudged university mark sheets.

Such lying is one of the reasons India Inc loses about $40 billion (Rs 1.72 lakh crore) annually through corporate frauds by company insiders, according to a survey conducted by India Forensic Research, a background check firm.

"We have seen in the past two years that people who lie on their CVs are more prone to committing larger frauds later," said Ashish Dehade, managing director, west Asia operations, of First Advantage, a US-based multinational background check firm which surveyed 1.5 million cases in the last 15 months.

"Recently, six employees of a multinational bank committed a major credit card scam. It was found that all six had lied on their CVs about their employment record. In fact, all six had lied even to get into their previous jobs."

Infotech giant Tata Consultancy Services does a thorough background check of all recruits within seven days of issuing offer letters.

"Information security is key to our industry. We cannot afford any compromise," said K Ganesan, the company’s vice-president and global head, Talent Acquisition & Academic Interface Programme.

Conventionally restricted to infotech, information technology enabled services, banking and insurance, frauds have more than doubled in the last six months in fast moving consumer goods, retail, health care and travel industries.

One in every three employees in the banking finance, security and insurance (BFSI) sector, every fourth infotech employee and one in every six in the infotech enabled services sector were guilty of misrepresenting or faking education or employment records, revealed the First Advantage survey.

Most frauds were reported at the upper rungs of the ladder. Top (C-level) executives, including board directors and vice-presidents, were responsible for 42 per cent of all frauds committed, revealed a survey conducted by India operations of KPMG Forensic last year.