Companies large and small, no matter the industry, are grappling with the widespread problem of resume fraud as job applicants embellish their skills and career history – with knock-on effects like wasted time, money, and effort for businesses when the lies are uncovered.
But there are three broad tactics that can help overcome this hurdle and ensure that employers are better positioned to hire people whose resume claims are legitimate. Achieving this outcome is highly beneficial to a company’s bottom line, as it prevents unqualified hires and reduces the time required for the hiring process.
That’s one of the main benefits of screening companies - they help employers with verification processes that ensure secure, reliable, and thorough background checks. The approach goes beyond conventional screenings to target each company’s specific verification needs.
And companies of all sizes can similarly achieve better resume reviews and weed out candidates who are lying. All it takes is a focus on three targeted areas:
Education and credentials. There are almost countless instances where someone will claim to have a completed degree despite falling short of the credits needed for graduation, so it’s vital to verify with colleges about the accuracy of such claims.
Past employment. Some resumes contain large gaps without employment history, raising questions about what candidates were doing during that time, or overstating prior roles, so this must be checked before hiring.
Personal references. You can learn a lot of insightful information about a person’s employment skills by following through on calling the references that they listed on their resume – it’s one of the surest ways to verify some of the claims being made.
Taking the time to properly vet resume items will save companies money and help address what researchers and news reports have identified as a long-running problem.
This summer, an article by the University of North Carolina’s Ethics and Policy Office said that lying on resumes is prevalent. It noted that many job candidates feel pressure to make their applications stand out from potentially hundreds of others, and therefore they either exaggerate or outright fabricate their skills, work history, education, and notable achievements.
The article references a study highlighted in a Forbes report that 70 percent of job applicants have lied on their resumes, with an alarming 37 percent saying that they lie frequently.
Employers in turn bear the brunt of resume deception, for example, if a candidate proves unable to meet the challenges of a job that they lied to secure, which in turn means the company has to start over with the search for a new hire. This adds unnecessary delays and costs, and without better resume screening, the risk of a repeat scenario remains with the new applicant.
By investing upfront in careful scrutiny of an applicant’s education and credentials, prior employment, and references, employers will be better positioned to find the right candidates for the job the first time around, leading to improved efficiencies and saved costs.
Gardner Davis serves as the Chief Revenue Officer at Peopletrail, a globally trusted partner in pre-employment screening. With a focus on fostering company growth, Gardner measures success through the impact and advancement of the organization. At Peopletrail, he drives initiatives that address key areas such as brand identity, technical SEO, sales processes, and technology-driven automation to propel the business forward. Peopletrail provides comprehensive pre-employment screening solutions, offering services from criminal background checks to drug and occupational health screening. Leveraging both advanced technology and human expertise, Peopletrail helps organizations of all sizes build reliable, compliant workforces. In his role, Gardner is committed to ensuring Peopletrail’s solutions deliver unparalleled value, enabling clients to make informed hiring decisions and maintain a dependable workforce.
