Tag Archives: resume

Don’t Hire White Collar Criminals

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You’re sitting across the desk from a job applicant.  She looks as polished and professional as you’ve ever seen.  You were impressed by her from her resume, and now you’re certain she’s going to be the best hire you’ve ever made. 

WAIT!

Before you hand her an offer, please, please, please perform a comprehensive background check on her!  After all, despite her clothing and polish, she might actually be a white collar criminal just waiting to get her hands on your data.

And don’t think it cannot happen to you…  Just because someone “looks the part” doesn’t mean a thing.  Often, criminals are amazingly adept at masking their true identities.  They’re performers, cleverly making would-be employers feel comfortable enough to take them on… and then taking those employers “to the bank”.

Though a background check can’t tell you if a job applicant WILL someday take from your organization, it can tell you whether he or she HAS done so in the past.  And that will make your decision much easier… to show him or her the door and not a corner office.

5 Solid Reasons to Background Check Your Employees

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Not background checking your employees?  Here are 5 reasons you might want to reconsider your position…

1. Diploma Mills

These are pesky places that allow people to buy degrees.  They aren’t real degrees, but they’ve fooled more than one employer in the past.

2.  Resume Lies 

You might be shocked at how many individuals are taking the liberty of adding to their resumes.  From lying about past positions to past employers, there’s probably nothing we haven’t seen before.

3.  Bad References 

If you don’t background check your employees, do you at least call all their references?  Most employers don’t, so they don’t realize that, sometimes, references are just made-up people with made-up phone numbers.

4.  Liability 

Let’s say you hire Bob and you find out months down the line that Bob is a registered sex offender or a criminal because he does something to one of your employees, customers or vendors?  Guess who is going to bear some of the brunt of the liability or at least be made the “bad guy” by the media?

5.  Safety 

Above all else, background checking employees provides you with a sense of satisfaction in knowing that you’ve made your workplace as safe as possible for everyone within your sphere of influence.

4 NEW Reasons to Background Check Applicants

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Think you know all the reasons to background check new hires?  Here are 4 you might not have considered!

  1. Your applicant could be lying about ANYTHING on his/her resume.  It’s true.  From dates to company names to titles… and what employer wants to spend the time ferreting that information out?  It’s better to pay a background screening company to do their job!
  2. You can tell vendors that your background check all employees.  That way, they feel safe and comfortable doing business with you.  And speaking of security…
  3. You can have a better assurance that you won’t be putting your current employees at risk by ushering a “wolf” into the fold.  And that lets you sleep at night.
  4. You can market the fact that you background screen all new hires.  This has a two-fold advantage.  First, the public knows you’re serious about safety.  And secondly, anyone who wants a job at your company will realize he/she has to pass a background check.
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    • Importance of Employment Verification — “But He Said That Was Where He Worked!”

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    “But the resume said she worked at ABC Company!”

    It’s amazing how often employers are shocked when they find out (after the fact , of course) that someone didn’t work where he or she claimed to have worked.  But whose fault is it that the person was hired?  Noneother than the employer!  After all, the discrepancy could have easily been ferreted out with a simple employment verification.

    The problem for many companies is that true employment verification takes time and energy… and organizations (especially small businesses) don’t always turn their manpower over to the task.  Instead, they assume that all resumes that come across their desks are on the up-and-up.

    In the end, they are often surprised when they find out from a screening company like VerifyProtect that their “perfect” job candidate lied about where he or she previously worked -or- at least fibbed about the job he or she held there. 

    Believe us — we’ve seen and heard it all, from flat-out lies to half-truths that would make Pinnochio blush.  In the end, it’s why we always recommend employment verification if you’re serious about hiring someone for all the right reasons!

    Education Verification – Anyone Can Write “Harvard” on a Resume

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    Guess what?  Anyone can write “Harvard” on a resume… or “Yale” or “Princeton” or “Penn State” for that matter.  But that doesn’t mean that he or she ever really attended the institute of higher education.

    This is the reason that education verification is so critical, especially for upper management level positions.  If you want someone on the job who has a certain degree from a particular type of college (e.g., medical school, law school, liberal arts school, trade school), you need to make sure that you’re getting what you think you’re getting!

    Case in point — even if someone can “talk the talk” about your alma mater (as if he or she went there), it’s still important to conduct education verification.  We at VerifyProtect routinely uncover lies and half-truths (“Well, I attended for a semester before dropping out… so I’ll say I ’went to Georgetown’!”) that absolutely bowl our clients over.  And they are always grateful that they didn’t hire the persons trying to dupe them.

    Even if you’ve never had a problem before, it’s time to start implementing education verification as a standard part of your background screening process.  You will absolutely never regret it.

    Background Checking Takes Guesswork Out of Hiring Process

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    If you’ve ever had to interview a job candidate, you know that there can be a ton of guesswork involved for both parties.  But when you add background checking to the mix, you take away much of that guesswork, replacing it with solid facts.

    What elements of guesswork does background checking candidates for positions at your company help to remove?

    1. Fear of Hiring Someone with a Criminal Past. 
    2. Worry That There is Something Wrong on Resume That You’re Not Catching.
    3. Concern That You’ll Be Opening the Doors to Future Lawsuits.
    4. Fear of Hiring the “Wrong” Person for the Job.
    5. Worry That the Person You’re Interviewing isn’t Being Truthful.

    Systematic, comprehensive background checking on all job candidates will make your job much easier.  Rather than relying on your “gut”, you’ll have specific information that will enable you to make hiring decisions about which you can feel wholly comfortable. 

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    • Treat Your Employees Well, But Protect Your Interests First

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    papersIt can be tough for many employers to accept the fact that, although they want to maintain an excellent working environment for their people, they have to make sure they protect their interests initially.  This comes in many forms, including background checks on all prospective employees.

    A quick, but thorough, background check can give an employer an abundance of information, including whether or not a potential hiree has been having credit problems.  (Though that isn’t necessarily a “deal breaker”, it can be a red flag, especially if the hiree would be handling a lot of cash or be in charge of the finances.)  Additionally, employers can find out if a job candidate has a criminal past, has lied on his/her resume and more.

    If employers conduct a comprehensive screening of all potential employees, there’s no need to operate an organization that fears its workers in terms of trusting them to conduct themselves honestly and in the business’s best interests.  And that’s better for everyone, including the consumers and/or companies the business serves.

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    • 5 Low-Cost Ways to Ensure Your Hiring Processes are Solid

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    Are your hiring processes up to par?If you haven’t been happy with the way your company finds, screens and retains new employees, try these 5 low-cost ways to ensure that you’re getting the right people.

    1. Shorten Your Hiring Cycle

    Studies have shown that, for certain jobs (such as those in sales and customer service), the longer your hiring cycle, the lower your chances of snagging the best people for the job. This doesn’t mean you should rush through your hiring processes, of course, but if you have unnecessary lag time, it’s a good idea to identify and eliminate it.

    2. Pick Background Screening Packages That Make Sense

    It doesn’t make sense for you to background screen every position the exact same way. If you’re currently performing the same checks on every new person that walks through the door, you’re spending money needlessly. (FYI – Click here for a fast way to determine what kind of background screening each employee needs.)

    3. Teach Your Managers How to Interview

    Can this be stressed enough? It’s critical that everyone in your company understand the most efficient ways to determine if a job candidate is worth pursuing. In fact, you may even want to hold a class on how to read a resume (or CV). Don’t assume that managers have these skills already; many of them have never had any education in this area.

    4. Ask Current Employees about Their Hiring Experience with Your Company

    Check around and see how current employees felt about the way they were hired by your organization. Did they feel it was professionally handled? Were they bothered by any aspect of it? What would they suggest changing? (You may want to position this as an anonymous questionnaire to elicit genuine responses.)

    5. Put a System (or Systems) into Place

    If you don’t have a hiring system in place, it’s time to start. Your hiring system doesn’t have to be complicated, either. It’s just a step-by-step explanation of how you go about getting from the “we’re looking for a person” phase to the “welcome aboard” phase.

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    • Applicants Who Lie, part II – Jobs Held

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    You’re browsing through the resume of a potential applicant and he/she looks pretty impressive on paper.  There are a number of management positions and responsibilities that he/she has held, and that’s exactly what you need for your position.  So you give him/her a call and offer a face-to-face meeting.

    The interview goes supremely well, but because you know it’s critical, you perform a thorough background check that includes calling past employers, just for good measure. 

    And then you find out the truth — that your “wonderful” job applicant lied.

    It’s not a new scenario, and it’s not relegated to any one profession.  Lawyers, executives, salespersons, engineers can all be part of the mix.  Because many employers only conduct precursory background checks, job applicants truly believe they can “get away with” their deceptions.  (Many do!)

    And as the number of jobs dwindles compares to the number of job hunters looking for positions grows, it’s happening with a greater frequency.  That’s why every company needs to be extremely focused on background screening.  Now, more than ever, it’s one of the best ways to protect an organization.

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    • Applicants Who Lie, part I: Education History

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    There are numerous ways that job applicants can and do lie to potential employers.  One of the easiest ways is by fibbing their education history.  They make up degrees, they make up schools attended, they even make up schools!  (There’s a whole market selling fraudulent degrees from fake schools.)

    Without a comprehensive background check “sleuth” on their side, most companies don’t have or take the time to verify the educational credentials of all their potential employees.  Instead, they skim over the education history section of the applicant’s resume or CV, maybe ask him or her a few questions during the interview, and then move on to other things.

    Make no mistake about it — even the smartest employers have been fooled by applicants who are determined to deceive.  That’s just one of the many reasons that it’s critical to perform thorough background screening procedures on every possible employee.

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