During the 1988 Presidential campaign, it was discovered
that current Vice President Joe Biden falsely claimed that he had graduated at
the top of his law-school class (he was 76 out of 85).
What do these two scenarios, and based on recent studies, 20-40% of all
resumes have in common?
They represent the ever-increasing problem of resume
padding- a nice way of saying a candidate has lied.
The recent recession has dumped a large number of potential
candidates into the pool, and some, to stand out, are attempting to separate
themselves from the rest of the group by glorifying their academic
credentials. For an employer, this
misrepresentation by a candidate is just one sign of potential issues.
Falsified resumes, whether education or experience, costs
your company in many ways- from recruiting and replacement costs, increased
turnover, the negative impact to your company’s reputation, lost customers and
revenue, and the possibility of civil or criminal liability, should you hire
them.
Misrepresentation on a resume tells us a lot about the
candidate. If they would lie about their
education, what else are they lying about? Are they lying about their work
experience? Are they lying about
commissions? One thing is true- They are
obviously not trust-worthy.
Instead of wasting time and money on fraudulent resumes,
there are a couple of ways you can verify this information.
The most efficient way is to visit the National Student Clearinghouse.
Their online system offers access to a nationwide coverage of postsecondary
enrollment and degree records. This is an excellent source to verify the education
of your candidate. Rates vary from
$4.50-$9.95 based on the number ordered annually.
The second way, and least efficient, is to have a member of
your HR staff call to verify degrees.
This option is time consuming and less accurate due to the restrictions
most institutions have regarding the release of information.
Because of the increase of misrepresentation on resumes we
recommend, at a minimum, you perform the following pre-employment screenings:
1.
Education Verification
2.
Employment Verification
These simple pre-hire steps will save your company up to 3
times the annual salary of one bad hire.
Isn’t that money well spent?
Contact us for a complimentary white page, "10 Steps to Retaining Staff".
