Four-out-of-10 (42%) employers admit to rejecting CVs due to a lack of understanding, while the majority find the jargon and acronyms candidates use confusing, according to new research published by City & Guilds, which develops programmes of learning, certification, and assessment.

The research, which gathered views from more than 1,000 small, medium, and large businesses, revealed that 57% of employers found acronyms on CVs confusing. Almost two-thirds (64%) of employers have looked up acronyms on the internet and 95% are unable to identify the most advanced qualification from a list of acronyms.

The importance of clarity for jobseekers was highlighted by 64% employers who thought that the use of jargon is to cover up a lack of skills or qualifications.

City & Guilds has looked to address these issues by working with the Plain English campaign to create a jargon buster to explain the acronyms and jargon that exist in education for employers and learners.

Chrissie Maher OBE, Founder and Director of the Plain English Campaign, said: “The research carried out by City & Guilds highlights a serious problem. Plenty of employers won’t have a clue about a candidate’s ability to do the job if they don’t know what a qualification is worth or even what it means. Acronyms are never a good idea, and all qualifications surely need to be written in full and, if they’re relatively new, with an explanation about how they compare with more traditional, well-known qualifications.”

“But it’s not just potential employers who lose out: job seekers could be wasting years of hard work on qualifications that employers won’t recognise,” she added. 

Kirstie Donnelly, UK Managing Director of City & Guilds, said: “It’s clear from this research, and our conversations with employers, that the education system is moving further and further away from the needs of business. High levels of youth unemployment and increasing skills gaps across many sectors show that the education young people are receiving is not helping them to develop relevant skills or enough understanding of the workplace to successfully compete and find employment, and our research shows employers are not getting what they need.”