Do you know that more than half employers (58 percent) have caught lies in a candidate’s’ resume? With the pressure to stand out from the sea of applicants, jobseekers are tempted to be less honest and end up ‘embellishing’ their resumes. While this might seem risky and improper deed, telling lies on resumes is more common than one might think. So how can HRs avoid discrepancy of information during background screening?
In today’s tough war for talent, finding quality talents with the right knowledge and skillsets is one major challenge for businesses worldwide. While the right hires could be a valuable business asset to improve bottom line, the wrong hires are proven to be expensive. Be it failure to carry out their job responsibilities, inability to fit in the workplace culture, or even crime-related concerns, wrong hires are harmful to you and the entire organisation. No wonder, when it comes to hiring, it is crucial for employers to gather as much information as possible from potential candidates.
Pre-employment background screening is an effective method to protect your organisation from the risk of corporate fraud and reputational damage. According to recent Asia Pacific Employment Screening Trends 2016, among other fields, employment verification remains a top requested background screening practice by employers in the region. The survey also notes that there is greater uptake amongst local firms to conduct background screening. With the highest discrepancy in the employment sector (57.7 percent), it becomes a good reason behind the growing trend of screening practices in APAC.
Performing background screening on candidates is an efficient and effective way to discover potential risks that might affect your business’ sustainability and reputation. Has your company adopted a reliable employee background check?
Below are top 5 background screening practices HRs must follow:
See: HR Background No Longer Critical to Securing CHRO Role in Asia
CareerBuilder survey reveals that 28 percent employers found jobseekers lying about their academic degree, while the other 62 percent discovered embellished skillsets.
Confirming a candidate’s education is crucial to ensure they possess required knowledge and skillsets to perform the job, if they secure the deal. Therefore, you should testify the certificate and other licenses.
According to previous study, 39 percent employers caught jobseekers lying about their dates of employment, and 31 percent falsifying their job titles. Confirming candidate’s past employment history is an important background screening practice you should conduct. Verifying their job history and reference will help you gauge candidate’s consistency and stability to an employer.
Conducting background check will provide you with details on candidate’s criminal convictions in the past. By knowing their crime history, you can conduct better assess whether their past will affect their future job performance or not. If they do show serious violation in the past, you might need to consider how it will affect other employees’ morale, when they get on board.
Candidate drug testing is mandatory for some industries where employees should not be under influence of drugs at work, such as medical or transportation. While for some others, it is a voluntary initiative to realise healthy workplace and prevent drug abuse that might cause serious workplace accidents.
With the growing trend of using social media to screen and hire new employees, HRs should consider checking candidates’ social media accounts. However, it should be noted that employers should never step across the line of candidate’s privacy. Therefore, you might need to consult with third-party legal counsel regarding usage of social media screening practices as a part of background screening.
Read also: Top 5 Challenges to Background Screening of Millennials
