There’s a reason that inventing fake qualifications is advised against. Aside from the obvious ethical issues, if you’re caught, you’re in real trouble and could face sacking and a reputation of lying that will never pass. My experience of this is all from senior travel recruitment though, and it would be far worse if you were in the public eye. All the following have faced the accusation of lying on a CV to reach their celebrity position…

5. Paul McKenna – Celebrity Hypnotist

Paul McKenna, the former radio DJ and TV hypnotist now runs a self help empire with an estimated £10,000,000 is somewhat unique in this list as he was completely unaware of the fake qualification he held. He took legal action against the Mirror for their comments that the entry requirement for his doctorate at La Selle University, Louisiana, was answering the question "Do you have $2,615, sir?" and won, with the judge accepting that McKenna was unaware that the degree was a scam, and had not tried to deceive the public with his fake qualifications.

The worth of the case is questionable though, with McKenna racking up £1,500,000 legal fees for a settlement believed to be between £20,000 and £50,000 – as well as highlighting his qualifications as bogus. McKenna has since earned what he calls a "proper" doctorate from a UK business school, which will pass the scrutiny of any qualification checks.

4. Marilee Jones – Author and Former Dean of Admissions at MIT

Marilee Jones was the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and co-wrote ‘Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond’ before it emerged that she herself had cheated the admission process in getting a job at MIT in the first place. In 2007, it became public knowledge that she had lied on her CV with fake qualifications when she first joined MIT in 1979 as an entry-level admissions officer.

When she resigned her position with a statement on the college’s website, she wrote: "I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago, and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since." It just goes to show that lying on your CV can catch you up at any time – in this case, nearly 3 decades later.

3. Robert Irvine – Celebrity Chef

It’s surprising that this British chef was better known in America than the UK, but perhaps his lies would have been easily picked up over here. After working on the hugely popular ‘Dinner Impossible’ programme on America’s Food Network, the St. Petersburg Times exposed a series of tall tales he had spread both anecdotally and by lying on his CV. Amongst the most damning was the claim he had a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Leeds, refuted by the academic establishment after a qualifications check. He also claimed he worked on the wedding cake for Princess Diana and Prince Charles – which turned out to be a massive exaggeration: "They made the cake at the school where I was." Irvine’s involvement? "Picking fruit and things like that."

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