Picture this. You go for a job interview, clear all the rounds and are hired.
Two weeks into the new job, however, you are called into the manager’s office and politely asked to leave. Why? Because there is a discrepancy in the information you provided for verification.
Background verification is often overlooked by those applying for a job. More and more companies, however, are using this kind of verification to make sure that the employee has not exaggerated his/her role or skills and experience. In most cases, firms are reaching out to specialized verification agencies such as Authbridge, Integrity Verification Services Pvt. Ltd, VVScore and First Advantage. With competition intense, a simple misrepresentation of facts can cost you a great job opportunity.
While it is entirely up to the specific human resource (HR) team to decide if it wants to scrutinize the complete joining form of the candidate or only certain sections of it, there are a few red flags that always herald bad news. “For example, a gap in your experience, a mismatch in the kind of education a candidate has received and the salary he draws, or a jump from one industry or skill-set to another (are components that) usually always catch our notice. We then do further research on the candidate’s history,” says Purushotam Savlani, managing director and senior vice-president of First Advantage
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According to First Advantage’s “Background Screening Trends Report for India”, released in March, cases of discrepancy across sectors like telecom, retail, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), travel and hospitality and manufacturing showed an increase in the discrepancy percentage, from 10.6% in Q3 to 11% in Q4 (which means that of every 100 candidates screened by First Advantage, 11 had discrepancies in their joining forms). The report says a huge chunk of the discrepancies were in the “previous employment” component, followed by “address” and “education”. These include false information on the compensation package drawn from previous jobs, the job profile, current address, place originally from, and the college/institute from where they got their professional degrees. FULL ARTICLE