Published Date: 22 May, 2017
Last updated on: 28 April, 2023
In this day and age where the job market is cutthroat, competition is fierce and unemployment is on the rise, job seekers are going to great lengths to gain an edge over their peers. In addition to blatantly forging personal and professional documents, some choose to resort to a seemingly less extreme measure; embellishing their resumes. Whether they are small exaggerations or bold lies, not identifying these misrepresentations at the hiring stage can come at a great price.
A considerable number of companies fail because of bad recruitment decisions. To help your organization avoid this, we have created a list of the most common resume fabrications you should keep an eye out for:
- The applicant may have only attended a course at a university or college, yet lists it to appear as though they had graduated from the institution. And sometimes, they may not have attended at all! With diploma mills being a lucrative billion dollar industry, the threat is very real.
- Inaccurate dates of employment are easy to skew, whether it is by stretching the tenure to cover job gaps or by claiming to be self-employed to justify an extended period of unemployment.
- Incorrect or incomplete references are another concerning issue, usually given to conceal poor performance at a previous job, in hopes that you will not take the time to trace the provided number. Other applicants may even direct you to a friend or family member posing as a previous manager.
- Fabricating a higher job title to secure a higher paying position, expecting you to offer them a similar title to the false one listed on their resume.
If hired, a dishonest applicant may lead a company or organization to lose hefty sums of money in hiring, training, salary, replacement and lawsuit costs, not to mention the inevitable loss of both current and potential clients. The only way to remain protected against these risks is to review received resumes with a critical eye and authenticate all listed information using a reliable and rigorous verification process – not only at the recruitment stage for new hires, but also on a periodic basis for existing employees.
Click here to learn more about Primary Source Verification (PSV) and how it can help safeguard your establishment against untruthful individuals!
