In a story in today’s Wall Street Journal experts warn that the prevalence of resume fraud may increase as the economy worsens. As more people search for jobs — and become increasingly desperate to land them — hiring managers should be on guard.
Key Points From The Article:
- Executive candidates most frequently lie about reasons for leaving a previous post, results and accomplishments, and past job responsibilities, a 2004 survey of consultants at executive recruiter Korn/Ferry International found.
- Academic credentials were the fifth-most frequently exaggerated type of information seen by executive recruiters.
- Executives who have been caught with inflated credentials often turn out to have embellished their records early in their careers. For example, people may claim degrees from universities they attended, but from which they never graduated.
- A job seeker may say he served as chief executive of a company where he worked for four years; that doesn’t necessarily mean he was CEO for all four years.
- One mistake companies make is not ascertaining how much vetting their executive recruiters do. Most search firms attempt to verify some executive credentials, but some “take a very hands-off approach,” says Jenifer DeLoach, who oversees background checks for corporate clients at Kroll. “They find the candidate, and a background search … is the responsibility of the client.”
To learn more about resume fraud and employee screening, read my recent post 4 Common Lies Told By Job Candidates and an article Employer’s 5-Step Guide to Employee Screening.
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Photo Credit: Dan Ancona
