LinkedIn Could Soon Point Out All The Lies On Your CV

Most of us have a few little white lies, exaggerations or omissions on our CVs - but LinkedIn could be about to put a stop to that

Most of us have a few little white lies, exaggerations or omissions on our CVs - but LinkedIn could be about to put a stop to that.

The popular employment-focused social network has replaced CVs for many tech-savvy employees, and so alarm bells were heard when LinkedIn bought a patent for a lie-spotting system.

The system, from Californian inventor Lucas Myslinski, is designed to verify facts - and to ask users for more information if it can't verify their claims. 

A recent survey of employers in Ireland found that up to 55% of interview candidates were caught out telling at least one lie on their CV - so if LinkedIn were able to offer verified information, employers would flock to the site.

Whether employees would be overjoyed is open to question.

The patent describes the invention as, 'A fact checking system able to verify the correctness of information and characterise information by comparing it with one or more sources.'

Rival social networks such as Facebook already use systems to prevent false stories spreading - such as flagging some news sources, such as The Onion, as 'Satire'.