Yes! You read it right there is a red alert – resume frauds are on an alarming high. India ranks fourth in the Asia Pacific geo-market in terms of discrepancies found in resumes. According to the quarter1 2015 Trends report, the discrepancy rate in Banking, Financial services and Insurance stands at 40 per cent followed by the IT sector at 27 per cent.
Surprisingly, the discrepancy percentage is highest in the age bracket of 41-50 years at 16.2 per cent. The overall discrepancy rate in India in the last three years is 20.11 per cent, that means 1 in 5 job applicants give certain wrong information in his/her resume or job application.
Isn’t that a scary statistics for an employer/ recruiter?
The above raises a pertinent question, that why a qualified, experienced individual would falsify/fabricate his/her resume?
The answer is written on the wall – the incapability to find high salaried jobs pushes individuals to craft fake CVs. Resume frauds have always existed – outright lies, misrepresentations and falsifications. With intense competition for limited opportunities, candidates have started creating rogue resumes, lying about facts, concealing info and bloating up achievements. This goes right up to the senior-most positions applicant’s too.
Some of the common falsifications are highlighting short-term diploma courses from premier institutes as main qualification and lying about dates of work experience. Applicant’s also submit false certificates on company letter-heads, including salary slips, fib about bonuses earned, reasons for leaving previous jobs and furnish false references.
Employers in India are now cognizant of the significance of background screening in ensuring safety and security at workplace. It is interesting to note that the IT/ITES were among the first to adopt background screening as a part of their recruitment process.
Background screening has gained prominence in the country over the past few years, with companies recognizing the importance of a candidate’s due diligence and the role it plays in mitigating risks and fraud in the company.
Solutions to falsifications and frauds cannot be fixed with a one size-fits-all. We strongly recommend that companies in all industries screen, not only full-time employees but also contract or part-time workers, as these employees have the same access to company premises and confidential information. These employees applications should be put through the following verification screening to spot falsifications on their resume’s:-
1. Employment verification
2. Education verification
3. Reference check
Not screening any one category presents a huge risk to organization’s and opens them up to fraud and corporate theft.
