Are the credentials of candidates really theirs?

The Middle East is in a period of rapid growth, with the financial services sector, among others, establishing a foothold in the region. This growth has seen a massive influx of labour from around the globe, drawn by the opportunity to work in one of the world’s most exciting economies. The Middle East offers real challenges to companies looking to screen candidates given the mix of privacy legislation and cultural norms.

Whilst the demand for pre-employment background screening is growing, its adoption throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa is far from universal. A background screening report found that 89% of human resource and risk experts have seen candidates misrepresent information on their job applications, with over a quarter 28% uncovering issues during screening of senior level staff.

When you bring a new employee into your business to fill a key role, you are vulnerable to risk. With discrepancies continuing to be identified across all candidate levels – from entry level to boardroom – it is often not enough to rely solely on CVs and references. This is particularly important when a company is recruiting for a position that may significantly affect the direction and future of the company.

Thankfully, employers generally do not assume that candidates applying for jobs are lying on their resumes and job applications, quite the contrary. Indeed, the purpose of a background check is not to dig up dirt but to verify the information provided to the employer.

A background check is often the final step taken by employers to help ensure a sound hiring decision and mitigate business risk, confirming a candidate has the necessary skills and qualifications, and are suitable for that particular role.

The key to mitigating risk is information and each type of check will reveal different information to help businesses make an informed decision about who they are hiring.

Employment history is one of the most common areas that employers seek to validate. Requirements vary from confirming the candidate’s last position to verifying employment history within a defined period of time. Employing an underqualified individual, particularly at a senior level, could pose a number of threats to your company including financial and reputational risks.

Confirming education and academic qualifications is important because they can be easy to embellish or enhance as academic records often go unchecked. Education checks are performed by contacting institutions or other authorised sources directly to verify a candidate’s education history has been listed correctly.

A criminal record check allows the potential employer to assess whether an individual’s record could present a risk to the organisation. Employers have certain duties towards their employees’ welfare, as well as for the safety of customers, vendors and visitors. Criminal checks vary from country to country.

It is also important to check a candidate’s identity documents to verify they are in fact who they say they are. This is usually done by checking machine-readable passport details or ID documents, which vary from country to country against the details provided by a candidate.

Additional checks include credit history, professional license, qualification verifications, directorship checks and executive intelligence.

Key takeaways

• The Middle East offers challenges to companies looking to screen candidates given the mix of privacy legislation and cultural norms.
• A background screening report found 89% of experts have seen candidates misrepresent information.
• When you bring a new employee into your business to fill a key role, you are vulnerable to risk.
• Employment history is one of the most common areas that employers seek to validate.
• A background check is the final step taken to ensure sound hiring decision and mitigate business risk.
• A criminal record check allows the employer to assess whether an individual could present a risk to the organisation.

Hiring a new employee carries a degree of risk, that increases with the seniority of the employee, explains Peter Cleverton at HireRight.