Truth and Lies On Resumes
September 3, 2009
Katie Couric reports on Andrea Stanfield, a woman who not only lied on her resume and was making over $100,000, she wrote a book about it, called “Phony! How I Faked My Way Through Life.”
“When we started working on a story about resume fraud and whether more people were lying on their resumes now because the job market is so tight, our biggest challenge was finding someone who would admit he or she lied on their resume. No easy task.
Andrea Stanfield said it’s not like she sat down and formulated a plan to lie. Locked in a battle for custody of her young daughter, she was desperate for a well-paying job but every position said “bachelor’s degree required, bachelor’s degree required,” she repeated during an interview outside her St. Petersburg, Florida home. So the Ohio native added “B.A. Business Administration/Akron University” to her resume when she only had a high school diploma. The college is actually called the University of Akron.
Ultimately, when her boss was accused of embezzling millions from the company and an investigation was likely, she quit because she feared she might get caught and could no longer handle living the lie. Her husband at the time was shocked by the revelation, she says, and their marriage, this her second, quickly came to an end. ”
A simple background check could have prevented all this.
Andrea has plenty of advice for anyone who might consider lying to get a job in the tight labor market: “Don’t do it.”
Read the entire story “Faking Your Resume” here.
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- 4 Common Lies Told By Job Candidates
- Can You Tell If Your Applicant Is Lying?
- Resume Fraud May Increase As The Economy Worsens
Dangers Of Using Social Networks On The Job Hunt In Australia
July 22, 2009
NEWS.com.au (Australia) reports about the Dangers of using social networks on the job hunt.
Employers using social networks to gather information on job candidates could be breaking the law.
Social networks have become hot recruitment tools but Harmers Workplace Lawyers warn that using such sources to gather personal information to screen would-be employees carries a number of legal risks.
Harmers senior associate Bronwyn Maynard says many employers and recruiters are not aware of their obligations under the existing Privacy Act let alone the “General Protections” section of the Fair Work Act that came into force on July 1, 2009.
Under the Privacy Act employers and recruiters must:
- Inform a candidate that they have collected personal information about them.
- Explain the purpose of gathering the information.
- Tell the candidate who else will see the information.
Luckily for recruiters and hiring managers, most candidates don’t realise that under privacy legislation they are entitled to see notes made about them during the recruitment screening process.
“The Privacy Act also dictates that companies must only collect personal information that is necessary for their business,” explains Ms Maynard.
Candidates can apply directly to employers and recruitment consultants to see the notes made and information gathered about them during a recruitment campaign. A candidate can request that inaccurate information be corrected. If the candidate considers the information irrelevant he or she can then make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.
Ms Maynard said while there is no set timeframe, to expect a reply within 30 days would be a reasonable.
Read more about the Dangers of using social networks on the job hunt.
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Photo Credit: Hexadecimal Time
The Importance Of Accurate Background Checks
July 14, 2009
Last week I reported how a Post-Hire Background Check could have prevented a terrible crime.
On the front page of this morning’s Dispatch I read…
Rape suspect got 2nd job because of faulty vetting
Weapons charges should have disqualified caregiver
It looks like this suspect was able to get a second job with Goodwill Columbus because of two errors with his background check:
- Goodwill ran a background check through the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) which incorrectly showed a weapons charges against him had been dismissed. Actually, the suspect pleaded guilty in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to reduced misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon and improper handling of a firearm in 2008 — convictions considered to be disqualifying offenses for working among people with developmental disabilities.That information was not on the BCI report, said Margie Pizzuti, president of Goodwill Columbus.
- Goodwill ran an additional background check through an online records-search service (I don’t know which company), but that report was confusing and Goodwill staff members apparently did not see that Quintero had been convicted, Pizzuti said.”This instructs us to be even more vigilant in finding out what’s in these reports and making sure we understand them,” she said. “If we had seen that and understood clearly, it probably would have been at least a red flag.”
Read the article here.
CONCLUSION
- A manual on-site search at the county courthouse by an experienced researcher is often the most accurate, and up-to-date criminal search available. Goodwill ran a BCI check which is the authorized central repository for all felony records for the state of Ohio. The bureau relies on police departments, sheriff’s offices, and courts of record to submit arrest and court conviction data to the bureau for record updates. The bureau did not have the most current information in this case.
- Your background screening provider needs to provide you with an easy to read report so there is absolutely no question about the status of the person being screened.
FYI Screening, Inc. is a leading global provider of employee screening solutions to corporations, government agencies, healthcare systems and educational institutions.
- Contact us for a 10 minute online demo of the easiest, most cost-effective and reliable solution for employee screening.
The Pitfalls Of Using Social Networking To Screen Potential Employees
July 13, 2009
Here’s an excellent article on using social networks for employee screening.
Source: IT Business Edge
Lora Bentley spoke with Jacqueline Klosek, senior counsel and privacy law practitioner at Goodwin Procter, about the pitfalls employers want to avoid when using social networking and other Web sites to screen potential employees.
Bentley: I’ve read about the public outcry that resulted from the City of Bozeman, Montana’s decision to ask job applicants for their social networking site user names and passwords. Obviously, there are enough problems associated with that practice that the city discontinued it. Can you explain?
Klosek: It’s just, in my mind, fraught with legal dangers. For example, what you post on your own Web site, the writings and photos and such, you’re really using someone else’s service. And for the most part, if you provide your password to the sites in which you participate, you could be violating their terms of use, which could leave you as the user subject to potential claims, including termination of your account or worse.
Then, as an employer, say you ask someone for their user name and password and then give it to another employee to do the screening, you don’t know exactly what they’re going to do with that information. With the user name and password, they’re basically impersonating the person whose account it is. They can send e-mails that purport to be on that person’s behalf, they can review e-mails that were sent from other people… It could be mundane personal communications, but there could also be trade secrets being exchanged, or a host of other things behind these protected e-mails. It’s just a minefield of dangers, in my view.
Bentley: What if you are using the Internet to screen prospective employees without their user names and passwords? Aren’t there still risks in doing that?
Read the rest of the article here.
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Photo Credit: AdamSelwood
The Hottest, Newest HR Technology for Background Screening - A Revolutionary Ordering Process
June 25, 2009
Ordering background screens is faster and more powerful than ever - for new and seasoned users alike.
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- Order a complete background check on one page, with simple controls to add, remove and edit search details, all on the same page.
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- Choose from convenient pre-built packages or save your own search groups for easy re-ordering
- Dynamically add and remove searches throughout the entire ordering process
- Strong data validation helps ensure accuracy
- System tracks your search price in real time as you add and change search requests
- Upload release forms and other documents at order time to greatly speed up processing
- Order additional searches for an applicant at any time after the fact
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The Hottest, Newest HR Technology for Background Screening
June 25, 2009
Your Background Screening Portal Has Never Looked Better
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- Smart, effective layout and design
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- Quick search feature allows real-time applicant name searching without leaving home page
- Locate in-progress and completed applicants with ease, using visual guides and status icons
- Order searches from our list of pre-built packages, or customize your own for convenience
- Manage your account settings, add and remove users, and access statistics, past invoices and documents all from your secure portal
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The Other Background Check: What Does Google Have To Say About You?
May 14, 2009
Employers have long known the value of background checks in reducing liability and protecting their investment in recruiting and training employees. But now employers augment this process with their own internet search.
Typically employers are looking for red flags, information that calls into question a candidate’s ethics, responsibility, or professionalism. But often employers also look for experience not listed on your resume and to verify your credentials. Managing your online presence requires proactive tracking of existing mentions and creation of new ones that will make you a stronger candidate to a potential employer.
- Do your own search. Use Google, Yahoo!, and MSN and search for various iterations of your name: “James Smith,” “Jim Smith,” “James Smith Arizona,” “Jim Smith Tucson,” “Jim Smith ABC Company,” etc.
- Evaluate. Visit each link with a mention of you and determine whether the content is positive, neutral or negative in relation to your job search. Bookmark both positive and negative mentions.
- Subtract. For all negative mentions, if it’s something you posted, delete it. If it’s thanks to a friend, contact them and ask them to remove it. Anything else, use your best judgment as to whether you might get it to disappear with a polite letter to the website owner, or whether that might make it worse. It takes only seconds to post something online, but can take months to remove it. Even once something no longer exists on the page, it can live on in cached pages, links, and other references.
- Add. Start a professional blog, participate in forums and online communities related to your field, volunteer for organizations where you may get some visibility, and create profiles for yourself on LinkedIn, Fast Company, and other online networking sites. All of these have the potential to rank high on search engines, pushing any potential blemishes in your record off of the first page of search results, and showing potential employers even more that you have to offer their organization as a new employee.
- Utilize. Once you have a good library of positive references online, think of ways that they could enhance your job search. Submit web links with your references when requested, or refer an interviewer to a link as a follow up to a question you were asked.
Take your online image into your own hands, and you can maximize your advantage and minimize any potential damage.
Photo credit: jonas_therkildsen
This is a guest post by Kristi Daeda. Kristi is a Success Coach for organizations and individuals, and counsels professionals at all levels on effectiveness and maximizing talent. She writes about career development, leadership, management, talent and job search at kristidaeda.com.
The Top 10 Tweets To Get You Fired
May 13, 2009
Check out the top 10 Tweets to get you fired at TwiTip.
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Employee Screening Articles For April 2009
May 4, 2009
In case you missed any of our employee screening articles for April, here’s a quick recap of our most popular:
- E-Verify Supported By Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
- 5 Improvements Coming To E-Verify
- Job Applicants Are More Likely To Lie As The Recession Grows
- E-Verify for Federal Contractors Delayed Again
- A Growing Trend - Data Security and Protection
- When Not To Do A Background Check
- Enforcement Of The New “Red Flags Rule” Delayed Again
Smart, Compliant Hiring Decisions Made Easy
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This will allow your company to focus on what really matters:
Hiring and Retaining The Best Employees Possible
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When Not To Do A Background Check
April 24, 2009
Some Friday humor…
Mark Anderson’s cartoons appear in publications including The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.
Click here to see when not to do a background check.
