Resume fraud is on the rise and as the job market gets tougher, more candidates are feeling pressured to stretch the truth on their resumes in order to appear as a better choice for a job. It’s up to employers to separate the fact from the fiction on resumes to ensure that the best possible candidate for the job is chosen. Let’s take a look at a few areas you can focus on to help streamline this process.
Most Common “Fudged” Items on a Resume
The three most commonly “fudged” items on a resume include the length of employment, actual employers and salary amounts. Some candidates may stretch the length of their past employment history in order to hide gaps, while others may try to overstate their former pay rate. While less common, some desperate job seekers will even invent companies and positions in an an attempt to fill up their employment history.
Follow-Up
Simply following up on employment history can reveal the majority of resume fraudsters. Be sure to ask former employers for the actual dates of employment, their pay rate and confirm the position that was held. These simple questions will go a long way towards ensuring you’re dealing with an honest person.
The same is true about references, you need to follow up on every single reference that a candidate provides. If you can’t get ahold of any references, or if they aren’t professional in nature, be wary of the candidate and don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper.
Perform a Background Check
Lastly, in some cases, it may be necessary to actually perform a background check on potential employees. Many employers are moving to this model in an attempt to avoid getting burned. Since this can be expensive, it’s best to do your own footwork on following up in order to narrow down your candidate pool before moving on to the background check phase.
Not all candidates are shady, but there are going to be a few bad apples out there. By taking the time to weed out the fraudulent resumes, you’ll be assured you’re getting the best possible, honest candidate for the job.
If you don’t have the time or resources to take all of these fact finding activities on, consider working with a recruiter. They’ll be able to help shoulder the leg-work and you’ll have a pool of verifiable and honest potential employees from which to choose.
Do you have a question about detecting resume fraud? Ask the experts at Solopoint for advice today!