What Happens If a Candidate is Lying On An Application?
Current background check technology makes it increasingly difficult to stretch the truth on a job application—but that doesn’t mean people don’t try lying on an application. Luckily for you and your hiring team, background checks are a simple way to detect inconsistencies.
And if your company runs background checks on current employees, you may occasionally find falsehoods on their applications years after the fact. Dishonesty can throw a wrench in your HR team’s work, but if you have the expert help of One Source and know how to spot troubling information on your own, you can save a lot of time and suspicion.
Today, we’ll be looking at how people typically stretch or hide the truth on resumes and what you can do to make sure your team members are as qualified as they say.
Misrepresenting Education and Qualifications
It’s relatively easy to catch when people aren’t honest about where they went to school and what degrees they earned—easy enough that you may wonder why people would ever attempt lying on an application about something like that. Still, it is not uncommon for applicants to change their school history or stretch the truth about their level of education.
One Source can verify education credentials, and we can also verify the specific degrees an applicant lists. Sometimes people are honest about where they went to college, but may be altering the exact details of their degree. You should always verify a candidate’s school and degree records, especially if their education is essential to their potential job.
Overly Complex Job Titles
These days, job titles in LinkedIn profiles can be less likely to represent what a person actually does. Job titles can be full of flashy buzzwords that don’t give you a clear understanding of their work. And sometimes, these overly eye-catching titles can be a lot of show and not much substance.
Keep an eye on the less exciting job titles too. People can exaggerate their skills or involvement in a task by creating impressive sounding titles that don’t exactly reflect reality. A “social media manager” who snapped a few pictures at a company event don’t have experience building a social presence. Basically, just because a candidate lists a job title does not mean they are well-versed in the job they describe.
These mistruths can be trickier to detect in a background check, but you can make a judgement call. Always ask applicants to explain the specific duties and responsibilities of former roles. This will help you find those who are genuine.
