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Top 5 Lies Told by Job Candidates
December 23, 2009
With today’s difficult job market and economy, it’s more important than ever to ensure accuracy and truthfulness on your résumé. Many companies, large and small alike, are realizing that job seekers are exaggerating and often lying on their job applications and résumés because they are desperate to find a job.
However, since the cost of a bad hire can range anywhere from one to five times the salary of the individual, more and more businesses are now using companies, such as HireRight, to help them implement, manage, and control employment screening programs. And beware the job applicant who exaggerates, falsifies their credentials, or outright lies on their résumé!
According to HireRight, here are the most popular lies told by job candidates and how they can be easily detected with a proper employment screening program:
- Falsifying the degree or credential earned: HireRight has found there is a roughly 20% discrepancy rate in information provided by candidates regarding their education qualifications. To overcome this issue, education/credential verification checks are performed as well as database research of known diploma mills so fraud can be identified.
- Inflating salary history or title held: While someone not qualified might lie about their past job titles to obtain a position or inflate their past salary to gain higher pay, background checks include contacting previous employers to verify the positions held by the candidate. And, requiring the candidate to provide previous W-2 forms provides proof of salary levels.
- Concealing a criminal record: States HireRight, “The most common way candidates with a criminal background attempt to avoid detection, is by changing details such as their date of birth or spelling of their name.” This has forced employers to “conduct very thorough criminal searches, going beyond the basic data provided, in order to confirm the results and avoid hiring a potentially dangerous individual.”
- Exaggerating dates of past employment: This is one of the most common résumé lies (some studies show as many as 35% of all résumés include date discrepancies) because candidates will try to stretch the truth about dates to hide gaps in their employment. An example from HireRight: “One candidate extended his end date at his previous company by six months in order to hide the fact that he spent those six months serving a jail sentence!” Contacting previous employers to verify employment dates easily uncovers these discrepancies.
- Hiding a drug habit: According to HireRight, “about half of Americans admit to having used an illegal drug in their lifetime, so conducting a proper drug test should be a standard step in any screening program. What scheming applicants don’t realize is that today’s drug tests can identify falsification attempts and are more accurate than ever before in determining positive and negative results despite tricks and excuses.”
Being honest about your qualifications on your résumé is incredibly important. Your résumé is the best advertisement you have of yourself. Lying on your résumé will only hurt you in the end because it will cause people to question your character and integrity. So don’t provide false advertising – be who you are and be proud of it.
~ Lisa Quast
Source:
HireRight: http://www.hireright.com/Default.aspx
HireRight Blog: http://www.hireright.com/Blog/post/Top-Five-Candidate-Lies.aspx
Topics: Jumpstart Your Job Search | 2 Comments »
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December 23rd, 2009 at 5:48 am
[...] the original post: Top 5 Lies Told by Job Candidates | Career Woman Blog By admin | category: criminal background | tags: avoid-detection, birth-or-spelling, [...]
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:51 am
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