In pursuit of job-seeking wrongdoers

We've all exaggerated a little on job applications, but beware, as there are now companies - pre-employment screeners devoted to catching out CV fraudsters.

ANNE LAWRENCE comes clean . . .

IN THE good old days, if times got a little hard and you needed a job fast, you could always haul out the trusty Olivetti and let your imagination run rampant. The end result was a CV that looked impressive and professional, but was in reality a patchwork of flagrant lies and pathetic half-truths. If nobody bothered to check the facts too closely, which was invariably the case, the chances are that it worked well enough to get you a job. Those halcyon days seem to be disappearing fast. A relatively recent major evolution in HR Management is the emergence of the pre- employment screening (PES) companies, which thrive on catching people out. The first two out of the blocks are Network International and Pinkerton, with Network International in the throes of the biggest expansion. In the past year it has grown enormously, and now has a large bank of researchers spending their time checking up on the facts and figures supplied by luckless fraudsters. There are constraints, however, on the extent of investigation permitted under the law of this country. Unlike the US which, naturally, invented PES back in the mid-Eighties, it is illegal to reveal information about criminal convictions, tax or health issues. However, these hurdles can sometimes be circumvented by the existence of a network of sophisticated information databases, compiled from legally-obtainable court records and newspaper reports, which PES companies have access to. It is estimated that in the next year, 80 per cent of banks and other firms in the City will use PES to verify the backgrounds of prospective candidates. It is not only less expensive in the long run to use these firms than deal with the aftermath of corporate fraud (70 per cent of which involves a member of staff), but it also provides the banks with the evidence that there is no negligence on their part if things go pear-shaped in the future. Just as all public companies now use irreproachable chartered accountants to audit their books, they are now seeking the same sort of impartiality from the people who check out the volatile subject of human behaviour in relation to Human Resources. "Keeping high-risk employees off the payroll and satisfying both regulators and insurers that adequate controls are in place to prevent the worst from happening should be high on the list of City employers' priorities," says Jeremy Phipps, Network's managing director of the PES Division. Exposing the miscreants is often not as impossible a task as it may seem to the layperson, as PES experts have to hand the prior knowledge and tools to recognise old patterns and new tricks. At least 25 per cent of applicants lie in some portion of their CV, 22 per cent of these in regard to their present or past responsibilities, and 27 per cent in relation to their educational backgrounds. Either whole histories are simply invented or dodgy degrees presented with a flourish. There are over 300 "universities" in existence worldwide that supply gaudy, gilt-edged certificates for cash, with a particularly high concentration of these illicit institutions in the USA. Of course, some HR managers take a dim view of these credentials, preferring instead to concentrate on hiring candidates who actually had to sit some sort of exam to gain their degree, but not all employers are as streetwise. These "qualifications for cash" are not uncommon currency in the City, and PES personnel are trained instantly to recognise even the most obscure of these institutions for what they really are. Tony Tucker, a headhunter with City recruitment firm Shepard Little, claims that "lots of the growth in this field is because the references that people give out are so bland". In his previous role as head of personnel at Bank of America and Swiss Bank Corporation, Tucker had few problems thoroughly checking the references of senior level staff and would typically go back five years into the candidate's background or last two jobs. This was before former employees became wary of giving a critical reference for a candidate. Now the threat of potential lawsuits has made many companies adopt a policy of just confirming dates of employment. Sarah Aitken, of Boyce Recruitment, a specialist in recruiting multilingual staff for banks in the City, is a big fan of PES. She feels that "as a consultant seeing hundreds of CVs a week, it is often easy to spot obvious problems but without confidential screening and referencing, significant omissions or elaborations on the truth are often not evident on the first reading". A career in PES requires not only two or three language skills but also a solid (and real) degree, at least two years' experience in a business environment, a tenacious but friendly phone attitude, the unique ability to juggle up to 30 cases at the same time, and last, but not least, something that can't be bought for love nor money - a "nose" for the job. Needless to say, the investigators are trained to be relentless in the pursuit of wrongdoers so, if you fancy a career in the fast-lane pre-employment screening industry, may I suggest giving your CV a thorough spring-clean first.

Copyright 1998
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