Abstract
Fraud in the resume of job candidates is on the rise. This has been necessitated by stiff competition given that there are few jobs and many applicants. Misrepresentation of facts can have a negative impact on an organization. It can make or break it. There is a chance of an organization hiring a crook who could defraud it or steal using its facilities or name. Worse still, there is the issue of an organization’s reputation being tainted due to poor quality services or poor quality products made by its personnel. This can be nipped in the bud by ensuring that during recruitment, what is indicated in the resume of a candidate is true especially on qualifications and credentials. All these are risks that an organization’s Human Resource (HR) department can mitigate against by verifying details represented by candidates in their resumes. In this way the organization can be safe from such fraudsters.
A slowdown in the economy has prompted stiff competition for jobs. The result of this is a surge in job applicants who misrepresent themselves with respect to credentials and background. By doing this, such applicants hope to secure the position. Common misrepresentations are altered dates of birth, specialization in college, and even the degree an individual holds. All these can be categorized as fraud and are to be expected in approximately a third of those who apply for jobs today.
Fraud on resumes is important to organizations. The reason being that those who falsify credentials and information on their resumes are unscrupulous people out to make career achievements through shortcuts. Information on a resume is meant to sell the candidate to the organization where he or she seeks to get employment. This does not imply the applicant has the leeway to lie and misrepresent himself or herself. The kind of people who misrepresent themselves in their resumes can be of harm to the organization financially and even taint its reputation among its clients. For example, for those involved in high-tech positions could turn out to be hackers engaged in messy fraudulent schemes that any self-respecting company would not like to associate itself with. They who falsify their credentials and qualifications just to get into the organization. Once inside an organization’s system, they can misuse company credit to pay their bills. Another thing about a person who would go out of his or her way to fake qualifications is that they are potential thieves who will take the slimmest chance to steal from the organization. Take the case of a person in a management position of a Fortune 500 position who gets the job through fake credentials, then disappears with a lot of company money. There are chances that his identity is also fake, or is unqualified. Anyone with an impressive resume in a difficult to find skill set would be enticed to join an organization. For instance, an organization might offer to take care of this kind of candidate’s expenses in showing up at its offices only for him or her to turn out to have used fake qualifications (Bachler, 1995).
Credentials and attestable qualifications are important in almost all professions. For example, a medical doctor treating patient has to have a degree that is certified by the relevant body of medical practitioners. The same applies to a lecturer at a university. Usually, a considerable number of lectures have Ph.Ds. or are registered students pursuing this qualification. Having such qualifications and credentials has implications in the workforce development in an organization. First, these individuals enhance their reputation as well as the perception of the public towards them. The employees are also made more mobile and can be able to undertake collaborative projects across with other professionals in their areas even across borders. There is also the bit on consumer protection by having individuals with the recognized and right qualifications working in an organization. The consumers, as well as other stakeholders, have an independent and verifiable assurance of the capacity of the organization’s employees to competently deliver in their mandate. Since most professions have professional bodies, having employees with legitimate qualifications and credentials compels them (the employees), to practice in line with the code of ethics in their professions. Most of them would not want to jeopardize their certification to practice taken away because of malpractice. Such people are also accountable for all that they do in their line of work, unlike an employee whose qualifications are invalid (Metacred, 2016).
Even though a fraudulent imposter might be able to perform job-related tasks, there is still harm to the organization. The organization is handicapped as the imposter cannot get the latest updates in the area of their professional specialization thanks to their non-affiliation to a professional body. Most imposters are afraid to associate with professional bodies as this would expose their fraud. This means that the organization lags behind in the latest practices in some areas.
I imbibed two key learnings from this case. The first has been the potential danger of resume fraud to an organization while recruiting. Fraud with respect to information on the resume is a reality in an economy where the competition for jobs has become quite stiff. My lesson here is that recruiters should not only read what has been presented in a resume, but also verify the information. Learning how to validate claims on professional and educational accomplishment of a candidate is critical in ensuring that unqualified personnel, who can ruin its reputation and cause financial losses, do not infiltrate an organization. If it is possible to get references from people not on an applicant's list of referees the better, the better for a recruiter. Most applicants list people who speak well of their capabilities professionally, which might not paint a true picture of their abilities and skill sets. The validations can easily be done using the internet, the extra time taken doing such checks could save an organization a lot of money and time not to mention a tainted image (Doug and Polly, 2015).
The second key learning from this case is in relation to the qualifications and credentials of the candidates who end up as employees of an organization. These are the people who can make or break the organization. Accredited professionals working in an organization would offer the best services or make the best products which would help it build its client base. During recruitment, it is important that the institutions where the candidates have taken their studies are verified if at all they are not familiar. While recruiting, the Human Resource (HR) should make sure they have the right kind of person who can deliver on the position they intend to fill. For example, if it is a dental hospital, a dentist should have a practicing license that is recognized in the jurisdiction where the hospital is situated. Picture a case of a suit brought against the hospital by a patient who claims negligence on the part of a dentist who was already undertaking dental procedures before attaining his or her license. Even if there was no negligence, the hospital would easily lose such a suit and incur losses.
References
Bachler, C. (1995). Resume fraud lies, omissions and exaggerations. Retrieved from http://www.workforce.com/1995/06/01/resume-fraud-lies-omissions-and-exaggerations/
Doug, W., & Polly, W. (2015). Protect your company from resume fraud. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243488
Metacred. (2016). Why credentials are important. Retrieved from http://metacred.com/why-credentials-are-important/
