Increase of Lying Found in Resumes
Despite an increase in background checks during the interviewing and hiring process, studies report an increase in resume fraud.
In a nationwide survey conducted by careerbuilder.com, 58% of hiring managers said that they have found a lie on a resume, and 33% of them acknowledged an increase in resume fraud since the 2008 Recession. Even though the economy is slowly recovering, the continued increase of applicants lying on their resumes could be prompted by the stiff job competition. Applicants feel the need to embellish their resumes to stand out among the crowd.
Most Common Resume Lies
In the survey it was found that applicants were more likely to lie on certain portions of their resume than others. The following are the most lies commonly found on a resume:
- Embellished skill set: 57 percent
- Embellished responsibilities: 55 percent
- Dates of employment: 42 percent
- Job title: 34 percent
- Academic degree: 33 percent
- Companies worked for: 26 percent
- Awards: 18 percent
However, lying is not the right way stand out. Even if they aren’t caught right away, many have been discovered years after the fact. Recently, two men managed to build careers based off of resume lies, one a professor at NUS and the other a successful basketball coach at Manhattan College. Their deception remained undetected until they tried to move up in their careers and applied with different universities. Even though their first employers did not run a background check to verify their resumes, their prospective employers did. All of sudden both men were out of a job offer and jobs.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t match your resume to the job description, just make sure you use accurate information. Hiring managers say that you don’t necessarily have to be a perfect fit. A good fit is better than a perfect fit based on false information.
Reporting a California Eviction
Since laws regarding evictions are a matter of the state, the way you report evictions and discover them during background checks varies. Legislature regarding what information can be accessed in California differs from other states.
What Information is Available?
Landlords and property management companies will generally refuse to rent to anyone who has been involved in an eviction case—even if the case was dismissed or was ruled in favor of the tenant. Since this is unfair to those tenants who technically have no blemish on their record, California created a law to prevent this from happening.
California passed a law in 1992 disallowing certain eviction case information from being included in credit reports. However that law was quickly deemed to be unconstitutional since eviction cases are considered a matter of public record.
Consequently, California a then passed another law keeping eviction cases from becoming public record for 60 days (as opposed to the traditional 30 days). The law also strikes tenant names from eviction cases if the tenant wins the case with the allotted 60 days. However, the law permits anyone having “good cause” access to these records. (Applicants should either way include this information on a job, credit or rental application or risk being sued for fraud, among other consequences.)
Who Reports Evictions?
The Landlord doesn’t have to report the eviction for it to show up on record. Tenant reporting agencies search public records for the information and then update their databases.
What is Included on Eviction Reports?
Since evictions are not included on credit reports, a separate check will be required for evictions. An eviction report includes monetary and non-monetary judgments, possession-only judgments, property damage claims, and skips
Education Verification is Trickier Than it Seems
Have you ever looked at a job application and wondered if an applicant’s impressive education credentials are too good to be true? Many times, they probably are. But thanks to education verification for employment, you no longer have to guess whether or not an applicant’s PhD, master’s, or bachelor’s degree is legitimate. A background check through VICTIG will not only check past employment, salary, and dates, but it will also verify your applicant’s education and degrees.
Here are some reasons to verify the education background of your candidates and the negative backlash that could occur if you don’t.
Why Education Verification Is Necessary
You may wonder why it’s necessary to verify that someone went to school and got a degree where they said they did, and question whether they would be so brazen as to lie about their education. Unfortunately the answer is yes — people lie about their education all the time. In fact, nearly one-third of applicants lie about their education background and degree (or lack thereof). This doesn’t always only mean they’re lying about having a degree when they don’t have one.
Here are some other commonly exaggerated or fabricated items people include on their resume that require you to verify their education background:
- Their GPA
- The school they attended
- Their graduation status
- The level of education completed
- GED vs. high school diploma
With such a high concentration of applicants falsifying some aspect of their education, VICTIG doesn’t leave anything to chance. We contact the registrar’s office to verify degrees obtained, the date of completion, and the area(s) of study.
What Happens When You Hire Someone With a Fake Degree
If your company ended up hiring an employee with a fake degree, it could spell serious repercussions for your organization. To name a few:
- Your company’s reputation could take a hit: If you hired someone into a high-ranking position who lied about their education, they could make uneducated mistakes that cost your company its reputation. If the media catches wind of their mistakes, it could spell a PR disaster for your organization.
- You could face expensive litigation: Your company could also face litigation if the employee was in a position of trust or safety (such as an accountant or health professional). The embarrassment and potential problems are just not worth the risk. Always verify an applicant’s education.
- You could see a decrease in revenue: When your reputation tanks and your company faces a legal battle, the general public loses trust in you as a business. As a result, you may see a decrease in revenue as consumers take their business elsewhere.
Why You Should Hire a Professional Background-Checking Company
Many companies try to save money by conducting their own background checks, but sometimes, discovering a fake degree is trickier than it seems; a fake degree is no longer just a lie on a resume, but is often backed up by false documents and proof.
Diploma mills have become rampant in the United States. Research discovered that 457 LinkedIn members had fake diplomas listed from just one diploma mill. These shady businesses provide people with fake degrees, references, transcripts, websites, and even phone numbers for the express purpose of verifying degrees to companies who call them. Thankfully, professional background checking companies are effective at spotting such mills.
Use VICTIG for Your Education Verification Process
Don’t leave your company’s reputation up to chance. Make sure that the employees you hire are qualified for their positions by always running a background check through VICTIG. Unlike other background check companies that use a database to check their information, VICTIG goes right to the source, ensuring that your information is accurate and up to date. Contact us today for more information on how to verify someone’s education background.