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[Betty]

Everyone puts down their employment history along with the dates of employment, but what are the chances that a company will actually check these employment dates.  To me this seems like a very tedious process and most employers will over look this.  Am I right in assuming this?  Do employers really check these dates?  If yes, then how accurate should these dates be?

[Zahina]

Yes they do check the employment dates Betty. When they check your last 3 years minimum references, they will ask a questions, "has *name* been employed by your organisation between the dates of "date" to "date"?
If they answer no and the dates don't match, they will question it.

[Betty]

Thanks Zahina for the feedback.  I often wondered if they check all the previous employment positions, of just the most recent.  I suppose they need to do a thorough check of a new employer to avoid any possible problems down the road.  It just seems so tedious and time consuming to call candidate's previous employers. 

[Zahina]

An average company policy is 3 years worth of checks and references depending on the security level of the job of course. 3 years is the least they will check for an average job with no security risk, for police, government or teaching positions, it will be a much thorough check. It is tedious but to be honest if you look at it from their perspective, they have only met you a couple of times before offering you a job, they don't know you at all, they need to be sure you are who yuo say you are and you have worked where you say you have worked for the times you have highlighted.
It's more tedious and time consuming further down the road when they find out the eprson they employed didn't have the required experience for a job when they said on their CV they had and a project fails due to their lack of skills!

[Coultrane]

I once knew someone who put false information on their cv and they were hired.  The  only reason he falsified his cv was because he felt his chances of getting the job were slim.  The company that he was applying for said they wanted 3 years of job experience for his specialty before they would even look at him.  He had the experience, but not 3 years worth.  Luckily he was never questioned about his previous jobs during the interview and got the job.

I realize you should never lie on your resume, but we do it all the time.  We just use fancy words that make us look good on paper.  I think companies should put less emphasis on the cv and put more emphasis on meeting the candidate to see if they work well with others and can an asset to the company.

[Zahina]

Completely agree with you Coultrane. As a recruiter you can tell a candidate is perfect from speaking to them but it's so difficult to put across the majority of a personality over on a CV. You know that if the hiring manager met the person in question, they wopuld hire them immediately! So much emphasis is put on CV's and good managers know not to pay them too much attention if I'm honest.
I really would avoid lying on your CV, if you are unlucky enough to get caught out and you are applying for a job within a certain sector, it can blacklist you with other employers who work a similar business. People talk....

[Drake]

Lying on your resume is strongy not recommended.  I heard that the the CEO of Best Buy lied on his resume when he first started working there.  He stated that he graduated from college but in actuality, he just took a few classes and never got the degree. 11 years later someone checked his cv and he was fired instantly.  So the lesson here is, it's never worth lying on a resume no matter what job position you are applying for.

[misch.chief]

dates are very important in recruitment and is a first port of call when asking about the job, "why did you leave", "why were you there for only 3 months" etc. Best to be honest, and lying never gets you anywhere!