Half of job seekers in Japan said they have cheated during online employment tests, reports The Mainichi, citing a questionnaire conducted by Certify Inc., a Tokyo-based company that organises business-related certification exams. The online questionnaire was conducted from March to June, targeting those who graduated from university between the 2020 and 2023 academic years, as well as students scheduled to graduate this academic year. It gathered valid responses from 328 individuals about their personal experiences during job hunting.

When asked if they had ever cheated on an online test, 164 respondents, or half, answered that they had. When asked about the methods of cheating, 67 cited ‘using smartphones or tablet devices’, 64 mentioned ‘using a computer’, and 48 reported ‘help from friends or acquaintances’. In addition, 23 people admitted to ‘paying for proxy test takers’.

Respondents perceived companies that conducted employment tests in an environment where cheating was possible as having ‘weak crisis management’, ‘low security awareness’, and being ‘unfair in their evaluations’. An official in charge of carrying out the survey urged firms to strengthen measures against cheating and stated that ignoring the issue “poses a risk to businesses”.