Month: May 2012

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Background Checks Human Resources Miscellany preemployment screening Recruiting Staffing Uncategorized

Education Verification Background Checks Catch Lying Employees

Fish got to swim, and birds got to fly.  And some employment candidates have to lie.  About their education, mainly.   Given the competitive job market, small wonder some will…ahem…stretch the truth in order to gain leverage when looking for a job.   It’s understandable.  It’s also pretty stupid.

Today,with most employers conducting education verification background checks as part of their employment screening programs, most likely the fictitious claim about having graduated or having obtained a graduate degree is bound to be discovered.   And by making these claims, you, the job applicant have with most employers nullified your chances of being considered for employment.     These days no self-respecting employer will merely take you at your word, or allow your protestations to sway them from looking further into your degree.

As a background checking service, when the degree claim cannot be verified, and when the candidate protests that who are we going to believe the candidate or the lying register, we ask for a copy of the diploma and/or the transcripts.  Some of the more enterprising or desperate employment candidates create bogus diplomas with Photo Shop or whatever.   Some will use an associate’s diploma as a template, remove the associate’s name and replace it with their own.  In case, the enterprising soul listed his graduation date as 1988.   Unfortunately for him, the university president that was listed on the diploma did not take office until 1995. Whoops.

Why do I bring this up?  Well, we have the current case of Scott Thompson, now recent head of Yahoo.   Thompson allegedly claimed a computer science degree on his resume–one he did not actually have.  Yahoo has acknowledged that Thompson does not have a computer science degree.    According to an article in the BBC, “activist, shareholder Daniel Loeb, discovered Thompson’s mistake.

Now this was a high profile executive who, let us say, stretched the reality on his CV.   A man in the news, a man under scrutiny.  Yet, here we be with a bogus claim on a college degree.  Anymore, than we have candidates who claim graduation when they only attended that college or university.  And some didn’t attend at all.  How they decided to pick that particular school is often a question of interest.   Did they pick a small, liberal arts college that they figured was so obscure no one would be conducting education verification?  Or when they select a large university are they thinking they may get lost in the crowd?

Bear in mind that four Yahoo executives approved hiring Scott Thompson.  And, not so coincidentally, the same four will be leaving their posts.   Why they didn’t conduct the necessary background checks is a question for the ages.   Or was Thompson such a high profile candidate they simply took him at his word.  We recently had a recruiter take the candidate at his word, initially.   The employer even flew the candidate overseas for the first interview.  And then the fictitious profile started to unravel, beginning with false claims about an MBA that was apparently thrown in with the other verifiable degrees for good measure.  There were other factors, or, rather, other lies in that instance, including past employment.   Needless to say, the whole affair proved embarrassing to the recruiter.

So we know why job applicants lie about their education.  And we figure for the most part they realize they may be caught in that lie.  So are they that desperate to find work, or as with Thompson is there another motivating force.  Thompson probably didn’t need a computer science degree in order to become President of Yahoo.  His career was going along just fine.   So then, here we are….

The moral of the story–if you lie about having a college degree or a post graduate degree, chances are the background check will show otherwise.   Chances are you will be caught.  At which point, with most employers, you will be dropped from consideration  for employment.  Not because you didn’t have a degree, necessarily.   But because you lied.  As employers tell me, if they lied about their education then what else would they lie about?

Good question.

 

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Background Checks Criminal Records Human Resources preemployment screening Uncategorized

Reminder on the Massachusetts Statewide Criminal (CORI) Search

For those conducting criminal background checks as part of their employment screening program, here is another reminder to the changes in the  Massachusetts State Criminal Search.  The search is formally entitled the Criminal Offender Record Information, or CORI.

Here are some things things to keep in mind…..
As most of you are aware, reforms to the Massachusetts Criminal Offender Record Law go into effect on May 4, 2012. This law imposes significant new obligations on Massachusetts employers conducting criminal background checks and will require employers to reassess their current practices. In addition to the statutory reforms, the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services recently issued Proposed Regulations that provide additional guidance regarding employers’ obligations under the new statute, impose additional requirements, and specifically address the role of Consumer Reporting Agencies in obtaining criminal history information.  The attached Strategy & Insights Memo provides a detailed analysis of the new CORI law, the proposed regulations and the steps that employers need to take to comply with these new requirements.

For more complete information involving the updates to the CORI search, please go to the Seyfarth Shaw, LLP Website.  They offer a more thorough understanding of what to consider when ordering the CORI from employment background checks.

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Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Healthcare Employment Advice Miscellany preemployment screening Recruiting Staffing Uncategorized

Wells Fargo Uses Background Checks to Discover Employee Criminal Records

Wells Fargo Bank recently discovered some of their employees were more than they claimed to be.  Some of the bank employees where convicted criminals who liked about their previous transgressions with the law.  However, background checks revealed that the employees were in fact lying about their pasts.  Wells Fargo has dismissed them for past criminal records concerning dishonesty and breach of trust.

According to the article in the Sun Herald…”The decision to terminate team members over criminal matters that occurred prior to their employment with Wells Fargo may seem tough – we recognize that these situations are difficult for everyone involved – but laws and regulations related to the employment of bank employees are designed to protect the interests of all consumers who put their trust in financial service companies.

As an insured depository institution, Wells Fargo is bound by Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act that prohibits us from hiring or continuing the employment of any person who we know has a criminal record involving dishonesty or breach of trust – regardless of when the incidents occurred. This includes convictions as well as situations where the person has agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion or similar program in connection with a prosecution for such an offense, even if the charges ultimately are dismissed. Wells Fargo has been performing thorough background checks on all its team members – regardless of when they were hired – which includes a fingerprint check with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

The decision to terminate team members over criminal matters that occurred prior to their employment with Wells Fargo may seem tough – we recognize that these situations are difficult for everyone involved – but laws and regulations related to the employment of bank employees are designed to protect the interests of all consumers who put their trust in financial service companies.

As an insured depository institution, Wells Fargo is bound by Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act that prohibits us from hiring or continuing the employment of any person who we know has a criminal record involving dishonesty or breach of trust – regardless of when the incidents occurred. This includes convictions as well as situations where the person has agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion or similar program in connection with a prosecution for such an offense, even if the charges ultimately are dismissed. Wells Fargo has been performing thorough background checks on all its team members – regardless of when they were hired – which includes a fingerprint check with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As a bank, it is realistic to assume Wells Fargo has conducted comprehensive background checks on its employment candidates.   Apparently, from the article, they also conduct recurring background checks, which larger companies perceive as advisable.  It is one thing to clear an employment candidate, but then what about those employees who are convicted after finding work?  What then?”  With Wells Fargo, of course, there are compliance standards that must be met–Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.  As for other, larger corporate entities, what are their policies on conducting recurring background checks on current employees?

In certain employment positions in sensitive industries, technology, aerospace, financial, it may well pay to conduct periodic background checks.   Since the recession, more than a few employees have gotten themselves into trouble and have committed desperate acts.  Some were in-house employee theft, which was ultimately discovered by the employer.  And some of the criminal activity was outside the office, who may have called in sick for several days to explain their sudden absence.

Anyway, here lies a cautionary tale.

 

Categories
Background Checks Business Research Criminal Records Economy preemployment screening Recruiting Retaining Employees Staffing Uncategorized

Corra Group Has Moved to Its New El Segundo, California Office Space

We moved.  Finally.  Rule of thumb…whatever content you think you have for moving, multiply it by five.

Corra Group has moved in to its larger office space in order to better service its growing list of clients. The employment background checking service is now headquartered at 201 Continental Blvd, Suite 107, El Segundo, California.

“We are in at last,” said Nick Gustavson, Co-Founder of Corra Group. “As is always the case with moving an office, it took longer than we thought and there were the typical speed bumps. But now we are here, set up and ready to go.

“The larger office space will better enable us to facilitate our client growth,” said Gustavson. “El Segundo has long been a busy friendly city with such notables as Chevron, Mattel, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon as our neighbors. It’s a really great coastal town. There are a number of media and technology companies, such as Rhythm and Hues and Stamps.Com, surrounding us and in the adjacent business parks. Because the area is so attractive, we will be able to recruit from a deep and knowledgeable employment pool.”

 

For the complete release go to this link