According to the most rigorous finger in air science, between 10% and 62% of CVs have a lie on them.

But not all lies are born equal, so which should cause enough concern to invalidate someone's candidacy?

There are two types of CV lie - one which protects the candidate and doesn't relate to how that person can fulfil a vacancy; the second which misrepresents their candidacy.

The first may be forgivable, and in some situations even necessary because of the incompetence or poor human nature that some hiring processes consciously or unconsciously engender:

- changing a name to reduce the chance of being dismissed on the basis of their "foreign-sounding" name
- removing early career history so that age can't be guessed
- fudging dates in employment to remove a gap, so that irrelevant questions aren't asked about that time in 2013
- not divulging information around disability, neurodiversity, being pregnant, something else that people think reduces employability
- saying a role was made redundant when that candidate left because the job was so toxic
- changing job titles to better represent the function of the role
- customising a CV so that transferrable skills appear direct skills

The second is a direct insight into character:

- false references
- saying a role was made redundant when they were sacked for being toxic
- saying you have a competency related qualification that you don't have
- changing the continuum, scope or trajectory of a CV that doesn't reflect what was done in that career
- fake achievements
- changing job titles to match what you are applying for, misrepresenting what your career actually is

In an ideal world, none of us would lie on a CV, and you'd have reasonable grounds to dismiss a candidate on that basis.

But before you do that, consider what lies you've told in your job description or interviews about the kind of company you are. Your culture, vision and values. The fact you are making redundancies while recruiting. Practical things that you don't think candidates need to know.

Or the second type of lie that hides what your business is really all about.

How do you react to fibs and lies on a CV?