Why Your Organization Needs to Perform Education Verifications [Infographic]
Since the economic downturn, competition between job seekers has been tight as the unemployed strive to stand out in a crowd of applicants for a limited number of positions. Such a tight hiring market often encourages applicants to fluff information on resumes to make themselves more desirable candidates. To protect your organization from resume fraud, you should consider performing education, degree, and certification verifications.
Resume Falsifications
Over half of all resumes contain falsifications, according to Statistic Brain, and nearly half of all education and certifications reveal those falsifications. In a study performed by Career Builder in 2014, “Fifty-eight percent of hiring managers said they’ve caught a lie on a resume; one-third (33 percent) of these employers have seen an increase in resume embellishments post-recession.”
With such a large number of job applicants committing resume fraud, employers should take every precaution to ensure candidates are qualified for the position in question. Employees who commit fraud in the application process may in turn be more likely to commit fraud on the job, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
How Resume Fraud Happens
Resume fraud can be as simple as an embellishment of previous job performance and responsibilities or as extreme as phony degrees or entirely fake resumes. Applicants looking to beef up their resume can find online diploma mills that allow them to obtain fast degrees with minimal work for a relatively inexpensive price.
Fake resume sites promise desperate job seekers fantastic resumes, because, otherwise, they’ll “always be beaten to the job by somebody less deserving, unless [they] know how to play the game,” according to one fake resume site. The more honest the job seeker, according to these sites, the less likely she is to find a job.
Effects of Resume Fraud on Your Organization
The effects of resume fraud on organizations can be varied. Some businesses may never discover that an employee was dishonest in the application process. Others, however, may hire a seemingly qualified individual, only to discover misleading information and in turn have to fire him and redo the entire hiring process. In organizations where customer care and satisfaction as well as job performance depends heavily on educational degrees or certifications, performing education background checks should be paramount in the hiring process, especially for financial positions, healthcare positions, or executive positions.
Conclusion
Combat resume fraud on candidate resumes and applications through education verifications. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that the staff you hire are legitimately qualified for the position.
What’s you education verification strategy?
