Fake It Til You Make It

When a hiring manager receives an application with a resume, the information on the applicant's resume is used during the interview and somewhat sparingly in the hiring decision. 

Employers seem to forget that resume validation is an essential component of the pre-employment background investigation.  It can be used for much more than only verifying an applicant’s employment. 

While it’s true One Size Does Not Fit All in background investigations, executive level and franchisee relationships need the extra care and attention your business deserves.

In the event a company has to hire an executive level position, the individuals that apply usually have extensive resumes. 

For example, executive level applicant’s normally have extensive Education and Employment history, along with years serving as a Volunteer or as part of an organization's Board. 

Confirming the accuracy of this information before hire can be the difference between hiring a career executive, and a PR nightmare.

We don’t say this to scare hiring managers, but it’s really happened before. 

In 2012 Yahoo! hired a new CEO, with a degree in computer science, so they thought.  The degree was actually in accounting, and Yahoo! had to hire another CEO shortly after.  It was an embarrassing mistake that could’ve been avoided with resume validation.

Tip of the Iceberg

These horror stories occur because employers did not perform the proper due diligence. 

In most cases, the hiring team assumed that because this individual was an executive before, that means they are qualified for the same position at a new organization. 

A ResumeBuilder.com survey found that 46% of those earning over $150,000 admitted to enhancing their resume, so it isn’t as clear-cut as one might think.

For most positions, indulging on a resume is acceptable up to a certain point.  It’s human nature to want to impress a potential employer. 

For executive level candidates and franchisees, however, a slight enhancement in their resume can snowball into a real problem. 

That’s why Commercial Investigations uses our Veracity Validity structure to ensure an executive level and franchisee applicant’s resumes are accurate.

Our investigative staff uses multiple sources of information, including social media like LinkedIn, to match the dates, positions, and responsibilities of the applicant to what they put in their resume. 

Real humans manually comb through the data, rather than AI, to ensure nothing is missed and there are no false positives.  We call this process Human Intervention, and it’s woven into the fabric of our business.

Using a Resume to your Advantage

An applicant’s resume provides an abundance of information to utilize, but employers are struggling to get the maximum value out of them. 

Resumes become an extension of the subject controlled information that consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) are allowed to use in the background investigation. 

Being a License Private Investigative Agency gives our staff the ability to look at additional information to confirm the applicant is who they say they are.

Our clients do not receive any information that is not FCRA compliant.  However, our investigative staff is able to use outside sources of information to accelerate the overall turnaround time, and reduce the number of false positives. 

In the event of a Merger and Acquisition, or a timeframe on a hire, CI’s procedures help make sure the wheels don’t fall off during times of change.

When performing a background investigation, the information CRA’s are allowed to utilize is all subject controlled.  Subject controlled information is usually particular and accurate, as the individuals want to display a proper representation. 

Going back to human nature, the information on a resume is typically embellished to a certain degree. 

Finding small cracks in a resume could result in a hiring team actually feeling more confident about a hire, but the opposite is also just as possible.

Employers and franchisors can perform their due diligence by conducting resume validation in tandem with a regular criminal package.  Resume validation is a critical component of pre-employment background investigations, especially for executive level and franchisee hires. 

By partnering with a professional background screener like Commercial Investigations (CI), you can ensure you have the necessary human intervention and additional sources of information to confirm an applicant's resume, leading to better hiring decisions.