According to multiple surveys, 30-80% of job candidates admit to outright lying or misrepresenting themselves on resume submissions to employers. Given the reasonable likelihood that half (or more) of job candidates fabricate or embellish key aspects of their employment history, educational credentials and more, employers must establish effective hiring strategies that dissuade resume dishonesty and identify inaccurate information early in the hiring process.
Fortunately, there are a number of strategies and tools organizations can implement to maintain the integrity of their hiring process and ensure informed and responsible hiring decisions. From reference checks to comprehensive criminal background checks including employment, education, and license verifications, a thorough background screening process can help your organization hire top talent with peace of mind about the integrity of candidates.
In this article, we’ll explore the most common forms of resume dishonesty, how to detect resume fraud, best practices for ensuring hiring integrity, and how The Orsus Group can help your organization remain protected during the hiring process.
Most Common Forms of Resume Dishonesty
Although most employers are cognizant of resume dishonesty trends like the use of fake diplomas and licenses, applicants sometimes lie or misrepresent their skills, credentials and backgrounds in less detectable ways. In this section, we’ll explore the most common forms of resume dishonesty and offer initial suggestions for addressing these actions.
- Embellishing work experience – Whether it’s creating a false job title (“director” rather than “manager”), extending employment dates, or claiming resignation rather than dismissal/lay off as the cause for job separation, candidates sometimes embellish work experience details to appear more qualified, reliable, or otherwise.
- Embellishing skills aptitude – It’s common for candidates to claim mastery of skills for which they only possess a basic aptitude (or perhaps none at all). For certain positions, job skills tests, license/education verifications, or reference checks can unearth contradictory details regarding job skills.
- False or embellished educational credentials – In extreme cases, a candidate may use a fake degree, but it’s more common for a candidate to misrepresent their major/field of study, list an associate degree as a bachelor’s degree, or suggest affiliation with a prestigious university they never attended.
- Omissions – Sometimes candidates simply exclude previous employers from their resume/work history to avoid a reference check or discussion regarding past job performance. Additionally, some candidates do not disclose important or disqualifying criminal record details during the interview process. Although there are circumstances in which a candidate can be legitimately disqualified from consideration due to a criminal offense, it’s important to remain aware of local, state (ban the box), and federal laws that could forbid pre-employment requests for criminal history details.
Detecting Resume Fraud
A number of background screening tools and hiring practices can help your organization detect resume fraud early on and address any issues before making a final hiring decision that impacts your workforce, productivity, and reputation.
Thorough Criminal Background Check
A comprehensive criminal background check helps to identify key information regarding a candidate’s criminal and personal history, drawing from a number of county, state, and federal databases and registries. A qualified check should incorporate the ability to conduct international criminal searches when necessary; healthcare sanctions and excluded parties list searches (in certain industries); and additional services like social security number (SSN) tracing and verification. In general, a criminal background check is best complemented with verification services that confirm key credentials and work experience, which we’ll explore below.
Verification Services
A growing number of employers conduct verifications to ensure that the educational, employment, and license information provided by a candidate is accurate and up-to-date. Through education verification, a qualified provider can confirm whether a candidate has earned a degree from a specific institution, as well as their education level, attendance dates, and other transcript details in an expedited timeline. Similarly, license verification can reveal if a license has been acquired or expired or if any other factors affect the candidate’s eligibility for a position. Employment verification, especially when paired with reference checks, ensures accuracy regarding employment timeline, job title, and other important information.
Reference Checks
It’s common for employers to request employment references from candidates to enable conversation and interviewing with past supervisors or managers. Reference checks can reveal useful information about a candidate’s qualifications, past job performance, actual job skills, and character traits. In addition to these insights, conducting a reference check can also reveal if a candidate has provided a false reference or lied about some aspect of their work history: job title, or job responsibilities within a former organization, for example.
Attentive and Transparent Interviewing + Skills Assessments
Another important step in ensuring hiring process integrity is to develop an interviewing and skills assessment process that encourages transparency (from the hiring manager and the candidate) from the start.
Candidates often embellish or fabricate credentials due to perceived pressure to stand out as exceptional candidates, or their awareness of limited work experience, immediate financial needs for employment, and other concerns. Employers should work to encourage candidates from the recruitment stage to highlight the transferable skills they already possess, even if their experiences and credentials fall outside of the industry where they are applying.
Additionally, encouraging candidates to remain honest about employment lapses and past employment experiences fosters open and practical conversations about compatibility between the candidate and the open position, as well as alignment with job expectations and opportunities for training and growth. On a more practical level, employers can also implement job skills tests as an aspect of their hiring process, which can be especially important in determining job readiness in certain industries and professions.
Ensure Effective Hiring Practices with The Orsus Group
Without thorough background screening and hiring processes, organizations risk incurring reputational harm, negligent hiring claims, lawsuits, and overall losses in productivity, employee retention, and talent acquisition.
Enhance your hiring process with The Orsus Group’s comprehensive background screening and verification services. From criminal background checks to verification services, occupational health screening, drug screening, and international searches, we help you ensure the integrity and reliability of your workforce by detecting and preventing resume fraud.
Contact us today to learn more about our solutions tailored to address your organization’s unique needs.