Social:Careerfishing
Careerfishing is a media term used to describe situations in which job applicants exaggerate, distort or falsify information about their qualifications, work history or professional experience during the hiring process in order to improve their employment prospects.[1][2] The term became popular in 2026 after media coverage of a hiring survey conducted by the background-screening company GCheck.[1][2] Similar behaviours had previously been discussed under concepts such as applicant faking, résumé fraud and interview deception.[3][4]
Background
Research on applicant dishonesty during the hiring process has existed for many years.[3][4] Providing false or misleading information during recruitment is commonly referred to as applicant faking.[3] Common forms include fabricating credentials, exaggerating experience or skills, omitting relevant information and providing misleading answers during interviews.[4] Research has also examined résumé fraud, inflated credentials and deception during interviews.[5] The increasing use of artificial intelligence in recruitment has also been linked to AI-generated résumés, AI-generated work samples and the use of AI during remote interviews.[6]
Emergence
The term "careerfishing" appeared in media reports in March 2026 following coverage of GCheck's Trust in Hiring survey of job seekers in the United States.[1][7][2] The term was later discussed by business and human resources publications including Inc., Human Resources Director, HRKatha, The HR Digest and The Post.[1][2][8][9][10]
Several writers noted that the behaviours described as careerfishing were not new and largely overlapped with existing forms of applicant misrepresentation.[10][8]
Definition and forms
According to media reports, careerfishing may include exaggerating or misrepresenting job titles, skills, experience or references.[1][2][8] The term has also been used in connection with artificial intelligence tools used during recruitment, including AI-generated résumés, interview preparation tools and AI assistance during video interviews.[11]
Related concepts
Applicant faking
Applicant faking is a concept used in industrial and organizational psychology to describe the intentional manipulation or misrepresentation of information during hiring and selection processes.[3][4] Careerfishing is closely connected with this concept but is generally used as a media term rather than an academic one.
Résumé fraud
Résumé fraud refers to the falsification or exaggeration of information contained in a résumé or other employment documents, such as claiming a degree from a fictitious university, altering employment dates or inflating a job title.[5]
Skillfishing
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, skillfishing refers to job seekers who overstate their workplace skills and abilities during the hiring process.[12]
Career catfishing
Career catfishing is a related employment term that describes a situation in which a candidate accepts a job offer but fails to appear for work on the first day of employment.[13]
See also
- Employment fraud
- Impression management
- Recruitment
- Employment interview
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Crumley, Bruce (2026-03-24). "93 Percent of Applicants Admit to Lying in Job Interviews—and Most Don’t Regret It". https://www.inc.com/bruce-crumley/96-of-gen-z-applicants-admit-to-doing-this-in-job-interviews-and-most-dont-regret-it/91321334.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "'Careerfishing': The new hiring trend that's fooling employers" (in en). 2026-03-24. https://www.hcamag.com/ca/news/general/careerfishing-the-new-hiring-trend-thats-fooling-employers/569699.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kiefer, Christoph; Benit, Nils (2016-03-11). "What is Applicant Faking Behavior? A Review on the Current State of Theory and Modeling Techniques". Journal of European Psychology Students 7 (1). https://jeps.efpsa.org/articles/10.5334/jeps.345.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Melchers, Klaus G.; Roulin, Nicolas; Buehl, Anne-Kathrin (2020). "A review of applicant faking in selection interviews". International Journal of Selection and Assessment 28 (2): 123–142. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijsa.12280.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Resume fraud and counterproductive behavior: The impact of narcissism in the labor market". Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 93. 2021-08-01. doi:10.1016/j.socec.2021.101715.
- ↑ Inampudi, Annika; Sambo, Paula (2025-11-20). "Wall Street Wants Everyone Using AI Except Job Applicants". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-20/wall-street-wants-everyone-using-ai-except-its-job-applicants.
- ↑ "Trust in Hiring Report". https://gcheck.com/whitepapers/trust-in-hiring-report/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Sharma, Radhika (2026-05-05). "Careerfishing: The résumé inflation game nobody wins" (in en-US). https://www.hrkatha.com/features/careerfishing-the-resume-inflation-game-nobody-wins/.
- ↑ Mukherjee, Anuradha (2026-03-25). "Careerfishing Chronicles: What Can You Do About This Recruitment Catfishing Trend?". https://www.thehrdigest.com/careerfishing-chronicles-what-can-you-do-about-this-recruitment-catfishing-trend/.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hornsby-Geluk, Susan (2026-04-07). "Be careful of ‘careerfishing’ in a sea of applicants". https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/360981215/be-careful-careerfishing-sea-applicants.
- ↑ Inampudi, Annika; Sambo, Paula (2025-11-20). "Wall Street Wants Everyone Using AI Except Job Applicants". Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-20/wall-street-wants-everyone-using-ai-except-job-applicants.
- ↑ "Three Ways L&D Can Overcome Skillfishing". https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/three-ways-ld-can-overcome-skillfishing.
- ↑ Berger, Chloe. "Welcome to ‘career catfishing’ — Gen Z’s new defiance against to endless rounds of interviews and hiring managers who ghost" (in en). https://fortune.com/2025/01/09/career-catfishing-gen-z-ghost-interview-no-response-hiring-recruiter-work-interview-employer/.
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