Sam Paris is a professional background checker who contracts out to large companies. There’s an article about him and his views of reference checking today in Mass High Tech. You’ll need a subscription to read the story that’s titled “Lie Detection.” If you don’t have a subscription, here are some of the interesting and helpful points.
How many applicants do you think misrepresent their education or employment history? Paris says it’s about 30 percent and that many of them go to great lengths to do so. Lesson: make sure you dig deep enough.
Paris also tracks trends in the background checking industry. He says that the number of companies hiring background checkers has risen dramatically. The article tell us that, “Fifteen years ago, he said, 85 percent of the Fortune 500 companies he surveyed conducted drug tests but less than 60 percent did background checks. These days, he said, 85 percent to 90 percent run a background check.”
Among the reasons for that increase is the cost of a bad hire. First, there’s dollars. It may take six months for it to become obvious that a person was a bad choice, but you pay that person for the whole time, plus you have to hire a replacement. And there’s the cost in morale. While they’re there, a bad hire can destroy morale and drag down the productivity of others.
Paris suggests that you use background and pre-employment credit checks. He also suggests using online resources including the social networking sites and alumni sites to check resume facts. And don’t forget that you can pick up the phone and call people. It’s worth it.
Sam Paris puts things this way. “If you hire someone who misrepresents while looking for a job, what makes you think they aren’t going to misrepresent when they have the job?”