Whether you're a small business owner making hiring decisions by yourself or you're part of the hiring team with a larger company, it's important that you make sound, reliable decisions about every staff member that you bring on board. One of the key considerations for this is to ensure that anyone you hire truly has the experience and education that they're claiming. Here are a few of the things you should check during your employee credential verification process.
Skills And Abilities
Whether it's an outright lie or just a simple embellishment, inaccuracies in the skills and abilities claimed by prospective employees can be detrimental to your operation if you bring them on board. After all, if they don't actually know how to do some of the things they've claimed, you're looking at additional expenses for training that you may not have had to pay for otherwise. For that reason, you'll want to ask about those skills as you verify past employment and contact personal references. This includes verifying the companies they've worked for as well as the listed responsibilities under each of their past jobs.
Employment Dates
You might think it's enough to just verify that the candidate did actually work for the companies that they claimed to. However, it's equally important that you verify the dates that the candidate claimed to be working for those companies. Sometimes, potential candidates will stretch the dates when they were employed to cover a gap in employment or to eliminate a company from their work history due to problems on the job. Make sure that you confirm the dates of employment as you verify the information so that you can identify any omissions.
Awards, Accomplishments And Certifications
Especially if they apply to the job the candidate is interviewing for, it's essential that you validate the individual's claimed awards, certifications, and other licenses. Make sure that the information is accurate as it's presented. You can do this easily by calling the issuing agency, as they will keep records of who has received those awards or other achievements. You don't want to find out later that the license or award they claimed to have was invalid, especially if the license is required for them to legally perform the job. Even if it isn't, lying about something like this on their resume is an indication of their trustworthiness, which is an important character consideration.
Academic History
You'll also want to call and validate the academic record presented on the resume or application. School records are important, because they could directly affect the individual's ability to do the job. Falsifying their education history, including what degree they received, can be highly problematic, particularly for jobs that require that the candidate have a degree. Sometimes people will believe that they have the skills to perform the job but lack the degree, so they'll embellish their academic record in the hopes that the information won't be verified. Make sure you check with each academic institution that's listed to be sure that the information is accurate before you extend an employment offer.