Have You Checked the Background of Your New Hire Yet? In today's age, where most hires are made online, verification holds even higher importance

When you are building a company, hiring a new employee is not an easy task. Beyond the person's educational and professional qualifications, one also needs to look at the values the potential employee holds. When you are talking about a small company or a start-up, the pressure to hire the right person is even more important. It's almost like the founder is adding a trusted member to the professional family, someone who will promise growth and bring in prosperity.

However, gone are the days when a candidate had to personally wait at the company's doorstep for hours before a meeting could be set up and then after the interview, wait for months before eventually getting a 'yes' or a 'no'. In today's digital age, everything is accomplished at the click of a button. Your LinkedIn profile is your new resume.

But while we are at it, what verifies the credibility of the candidate? There are companies now that do the job for another organization. First Advantage is one of the leading organizations in the field of background verification. Their report from 2017 provides insights on HR for prospective employers of the prevailing trends in the market.

An Era of Errors

With global platforms like LinkedIn that help you build a professional network, allowing employers to have a digital view of a candidate's qualifications and experience, or even its Indian counterparts like Naukri.com which solely serve as a job portal, there also rises one important question – How do you know if the digital account is not a fake one?

It has become easier to portray a false image on social media, mainly because it requires no background checks. The study conducted by First Advantage shows that during the third quarter of 2017, the overall discrepancy rate rose from 10.6% in Q2 to 11.5%

Courtesy: First Advantage

With all information available online without a proof of work provided, it has become easier for people to fool around and show incorrect information about their qualifications.

Where Do Candidates Lie?

As most conversations take place online, the background check is not really an option. If a hire is made through a portal, not every time the recruiter goes back to the person's previous company to cross check on the salary or other components.

While there are various things that candidates often lie about, employment tops the list. The study showed that the discrepancies related to employment, address and education were at 56.2 per cent, 7.8 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.

Courtesy: First Advantage

According to the study, errors at the associate level are at the highest, standing tall at 64 per cent. This is followed by Middle Management at 18 per cent and First Level Supervisor at 13 per cent.

However, as one gains experience professionally, the discrepancy rate drops for senior management level discrepancies are at 3 per cent.

Why is It Important To Verify the Candidate's Profile?

As the company grows, it is of extreme importance that the hires are made right. While bigger companies outsource the verification, smaller companies have to do it in-house. Discrepancies about their salaries are the most common ones that candidates, however there are other categories which can prove detrimental to the company. A history of legal cases, money laundering scams or IP fraud are things that cannot be overlooked while making a hire.

So, it is crucial that every company carries out a proper background verification program before actually hiring the candidate.