Beware the Counterfeit Candidate

So-called ‘counterfeit candidates’ costly to replace

In a tough job market, it’s not surprising candidates do what they can to ensure they get the role. The reality is many candidates will tell little while lies that seem like they can’t hurt, yet these can easily mislead a prospective employer and lead to costly mistakes.

Recent high –profile examples include Defence Technology Agency head Stephen Wilce, who made extravagant claims about a distinguished combat career and Immigration Service boss, Maryanne Thompson who falsely claimed she had a doctorate from the London School of Economics.

Drake International’s New Zealand general manager Gay Barton says the reality is that lying is a common human characteristic that stretches from seemingly harmless fibs, through to more serious claims regarding qualifications.

“Most people are generally good natured and honest but it is a competitive world out there with lots of temptations when it comes to stretching the truth a little too far.

“The most common untruths in resumes relate to incorrect employment dates, exaggerated responsibilities, inflated salaries, referring to positions as contract roles as opposed to full-time employment, and using referees that are friends or colleagues.”

Ms Barton says that in today’s tough job market it’s tempting for job seekers to embellish their CVs, making it more important than ever to have a thorough checking process in place.

“Hiring a counterfeit candidate can be a very expensive mistake. Our research has shown that it can cost an employer anywhere between 30% and 200% of an employee’s salary to replace a mis-hire. Not to mention the cost of time, resources and potential disruption to core business activity.

“The counterfeit candidate can often be more single-minded than the person selecting them. They have a mission – to secure a job offer that they can then leverage to advance their own ends.

“Such candidates can often be highly coached and well rehearsed. They may have studied your hiring practices and been on the internet to learn your organisation’s lingo.

“It’s often the case that counterfeit candidates look good on paper, they interview well and will go to great lengths to make themselves part of your organisation whether or not they have the proper skills”, says Ms Barton.

The latest Drake White Paper, Don’t be fooled by the counterfeit candidate, says that:

• The incidence of resume fraud is rising significantly and over 40% of all resumes contain falsified information.
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• Between 50% and 60% of people exaggerate what they have done in their job applications.
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• Over 80% of Fortune 100 companies in the US are now doing resume checks.
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• Almost 90% of the personnel directors surveyed by the Society of Human resource management reported untruths ranging from past salaries to personal identification.
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Ms Barton says it requires more than luck to beat the cunning practices of the counterfeit candidate. The challenge for employers is to have a robust screening process to ensure they hire genuine top performers each and every time.

Drake International’s CV checklist

1. Legal entitlements to work in NZ – if your candidate is not a NZ or Australian citizen, you need to sight and take a copy of their work permit. If the work permit has a company name already on it, the candidate will need to apply for a new work permit for your specific company.

2. Criminal check – the Criminal Records Unit of the Ministry of Justice provides information on criminal convictions. You will require written permission to apply for information about another person.

3. Reference check – a written reference is not typically worth the paper it’s written on, as most candidates draft it themselves and get their manager to sign it. Therefore it’s suggested you undertake a verbal reference check which will ensure access to a greater variety of detailed information, both personal and in relation to work performance.

4. Education – in regards to job specific qualifications, you should request to see the original qualifications from the candidate. You can then make a copy and request their permission to verify its legitimacy from the source, such as completion, dates and grades.

5. Skills testing – by quantifying candidate’s computer skills, through testing, you can capture a complete picture of a person’s computer expertise, defining their skills and the areas of training required. Drake has a skills testing programme called ‘Drakewize’ which can test such things as Microsoft and Macintosh packages, accounting, computer programming, call centre, typing, legal and medical skills.

6. Behavioural assessments – studies show that 87% of job failures are due to personality conflict rather than abilities or competencies. Use behavioural assessment tools such as Drake P3 or Picasso to enable you to get to know your candidate’s behavioural tendencies. Drake P3 is a psychometric assessment while Picasso is a sophisticated HR evaluation assessment.

7. Credit check – a credit check must be relevant to the role the candidate would be performing. If it is relevant you must seek a signed authorisation from the candidate before arranging credit checks through NZ financial institutions such as Baycorp Advantage. Baycorp Advantage has an online service which produces instant reports to show any bad debt or adverse information.

8. Medical and drug testing – if medical and drug testing is justified and necessary, you’re well within your rights to have your candidate undergo testing.

9. Drivers licence – New Zealand Transport has a service called ‘Driver Check’ that enables the status of driver licences to be queried by authorised users. You will need written permission from your candidate to be able to access the information, located at www.nzta.govt.nz/drivercheck

ENDS