HIRING GUIDE
Most CVs contain at least one exaggeration. A significant minority contain outright fabrications. Here's what to look for — and how to act on it.
Last updated: May 2026 · 8-min read
Claiming a degree, certification, or qualification that was never earned. Sometimes this involves real institutions (claiming a degree from a university attended but never completed) or entirely fictitious ones.
"Head of" or "Director" when the actual role was "Senior Analyst". At larger companies this is harder to spot. At startups or small teams, the claimed hierarchy often doesn't match company size.
Stretching the end date of one role and start date of another to cover a gap. Often the months are changed (e.g., "2021–2023" hides that employment ended March 2021 and restarted October 2022).
"Managed a £5M budget" or "led a team of 20" when the actual scope was a fraction of that. These claims are specific enough to sound credible but vague enough to be hard to verify.
"Grew ARR by 140%" or "Generated £3M in new pipeline." These are among the most common resume embellishments — credible-sounding, tied to a real company, but impossible to verify without internal access.
A candidate lists 12 technologies or frameworks but can't demonstrate working knowledge of any beyond the surface. Common in engineering CVs, especially with AI/ML tools listed as experience.
"Led the migration to microservices" or "designed the company's GTM strategy" when the candidate was one of several contributors or played a minor role. Ambiguous language masks the actual scope.
"Pursuing new opportunities" or "company restructuring" sometimes hides a termination, a performance exit, or a resignation under pressure. This matters because it changes the context of the candidate's performance history.
AI can't call previous employers or access degree registers. But it can do something manual review cannot: systematically extract and risk-rate every claim in a CV, so your interview targets the highest-risk content.
The output isn't a lie detector. It's a structured interrogation brief — so your interview is spent on the claims that matter, not on what the candidate wants to talk about.
What percentage of candidates lie on their resume?
Studies suggest 70–85% of candidates exaggerate at least one detail. Around 30% include outright fabrications such as false credentials, companies they didn't work for, or roles they didn't hold.
What is the most common form of resume fraud?
Inflated job titles and false dates to cover employment gaps are the most common. Fabricated academic qualifications and unverifiable achievement claims follow closely.
What happens if an employee lied on their resume?
Material misrepresentation on a job application is grounds for termination in most jurisdictions, even after probation. Consult employment legal counsel before acting if the role involves regulated activities.
Can AI detect resume fraud?
AI cannot independently verify facts, but it can flag the claims most likely to be exaggerated — those that are specific, central to the role, and difficult to verify. It then generates the targeted questions your interview needs to probe them.
Is it legal to conduct employment verification?
Yes. Verifying employment dates, job titles, and academic qualifications is standard practice and legally permissible in most jurisdictions. Reference checks and formal background screening have additional legal considerations that vary by region.
Nasiya extracts every claim from a candidate's CV, scores it for risk and verifiability, and generates targeted probe questions — automatically.
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