CV Fraud is real - what can you do about it?

A recent CV Fraud story hit the newswire and it really prompted what is a hot topic that has a range of implications for all parties. Here are some things you can do to avoid the pain of "losing the job", "losing the employee" or just losing the plot!

See the Stuff article below to see a recent story where a simple third party check would have avoided the bad press, a bad hire and the resulting damage to a good company brand.

This article is a public article - we are taking it at face value and talking about the issue of CV fraud - we do not have first-hand knowledge of the facts and are not attacking the employer or the employee.

As an employee:

ALWAYS

• Check your CV is accurate - start dates, end dates, and your duties, responsibilities, and acheivements must be accurate and verifiable
• Always provide a verbal referee who is clearly employed at that company or in similar professional roles now
• Provide referees who are in New Zealand
• Make sure your referees know they are your referees

NEVER

• Put in false qualifications - it's easy to provide copies of qualifications and course scripts
• Alter facts - you will get found out!
• Take ownership for acheivements that aren't yours

As an Employer:

ALWAYS

• Use a professional recruitment firm they will do the logical checks and consult on any concerns they have
• Check qualifications with the provider
• Site the orginals
• Do verbal references with people who are still at that company
• Check online profiles against CV's (are they a Linkedin liar?)
• Keep checking and verifying until you are totally satisfied
• Do a Ministry of Justice pre-employment security check
• Use employment declarations that confirm the legitimacy of all pre-employemnt statements and undertakings

NEVER

• Hire on a handshake
• Just hire a mate 
• Trust a CV without doing third party checks
• Trust a certificate you have not seen before - providers can and should verify the legitimacy of their qualifiactions eg Massey Graduates can be checked online here
• Use a recruiter who cannot confirm all facts before you meet or interview the applicant

As a professional recruitment specialist stories of CV Fraud disappoint me as they are so easily avoided! The internet is your friend - but more importantly be inquisitive and take the time to question facts until you are satisfied.

Recently, I personally recruited a role where a simple online search found an applicant had a professional history that made them unemployable in my client's industry. The employer was glad these checks happened and the applicant understood why they could not be employed with the information we discovered during our checking processes.

We have also avoided a risky application where an applicants CV and reference "just felt unusual". An online tool confirmed this applicant's overseas history - and we quickly established we were working with false references.

Our client was completely surprised that we found the information we did and reassured they avoided an expensive bad hire. In their industry their reputation is 100% critical. Surprisingly, in discussing this with the employer they confimed they don't do checks to this level.

REMEMBER: 

CV Fraudsters will be found out! It is easy to catch them early and it's damaging to the employer and the employee if they are caught late. Just avoid the risk!