Reference Checks Find Résumé Ruses
<B>Reference Checks Find Résumé Ruses</B>
Recently, a sharp young man became a candidate for a Fortune 100 corporation. The position was senior coordinator within the travel department. The salary was up to $58,000, plus full benefits and other perks. We interviewed him at length, checked his references, all looked great. He made an excellent presentation, had the right experience, his references were very good and he was a college grad with a BA degree. We sent his résumé to our client, who wanted to see him immediately. He went through the interview process. Within that process, he needed to fill out an employment application. Their application, just like ours, asks that candidates sign the form stating that all information supplied is truthful. Their form also states that should a candidate lie about his employment, skills, education, etc., it is grounds for immediate dismissal.
Our candidate was hired with a starting date of three weeks hence. He was very happy, and so were we. We solved the need for a client of ours, actually a new client of ours. They were very happy as well, and invited him in early to attend a corporate meeting and to meet other important staff. All was going great, until the candidate is told by the HR department of the corporation that his college can't find his transcripts or his diploma. Well, to end this story on a sour note, he did not have a BA degree. In fact, he only went to college for about a year! We asked him why his résumé said he had a BA degree. His answer? "I've been doing it for years, no one ever checks to see your diploma or contacts the school."
We told him that he deserved to lose the job! Can you guess how many job candidates lie on their employment applications? Our statistics are truly scary!
The percentage is around 75 percent. The number-one lie is about their current base salary. If they are making $40K, they generally say $42K-$44K. The minimum most candidates at this salary level will accept for a new job is a "bump" of at least $2,000 per year. So, if we weren't aware of these fibs, they would gain $4K to $6K more than they are making, and that's too high of a bump in pay for a travel agent, even in cities like New York.
Candidates aren't the only fibbers, some companies also do it. They talk about their incentives in pre-hiring interviews, but the incentive plan always seems to be in progress after the candidate takes the position.
We have had more lies from candidates than companies. We have had candidates lie about why they are no longer with their most recent employer. Answers have included: "downsizing," "acquired," "sold," "business fall off," "no budget" and "losing too much money." Since we check references before we send candidates out, we know the real answers were: "embezzler," "stole equipment," "stole tickets" and "never arrived on time." One of the best was "Never heard of him/her!" Whether you use a service like ours, or not, you must check references!
<I>P. Jason King is founder and president of Yours In Travel Personnel Agency Inc., the New York-based travel industry recruitment source.