“If I had to make a conjecture on the matter, I would guess lying is very likely less difficult when it is done over the telephone. It is interesting to me how technology has in many ways facilitated and refined the practice of deception.” - Suzanne Rindell, Author
In the days of yore, appointing the candidates through interviews were pretty much straight forward. They were administered only in-person. It took a very talented person to scam in-person interviews. Later came the telephone and with it the telephonic interviews. Today, interviews are conducted in a variety of formats and methods. Interviews via videos and bizarrely via chat are becoming increasingly popular, but what about the integrity of the interviews?
The HR of any organization knows the importance of working quickly to fill specialized positions with a qualified candidate. With lucrative salaries and perks, there are many qualified, under-qualified and non-qualified personnel vying for that position.
It is imperative to have your HR team sensitized with respect to the fake candidate scam. If the candidate doesn’t look like or feel like the person on the CV, then most likely it’s a scam.
There could be occasions where certain delinquent job agencies might run a scam by forging documents and sending a qualified person for in-person interview for an unqualified person.
Fake candidates should be filtered out in the beginning. It's better to spend time filtering them out rather than them making it into the organization, impacting the client with both time and money.
Increasing candidate flow and conversion rate has become a common challenge in many organizations. To attract the right talent at the right time, you need to have an efficient recruitment strategy and process in place. But with these scam challenges in picture, the recruitment strategy and processes of the organizations need to be made more stringent.
Read this recent article here on candidates conning their ways to jobs.
How to handle such frauds?
Screen: After you’ve screened a candidate during phone interviews, it’s crucial to conduct next interview that confirms the identity of the person. This involves a follow-up video or in-person interview.
INSIST on a video call
Ask the candidates not to wear earbuds during the interviews
Be proactive and make the call to the past employers and HR departments to verify candidates’ credentials
How to prevent in-person scams?
Check multiple photo ids of the candidates when they arrive in person
Validate the contact details whether they are incorrect or incomplete
Don’t just rely on the reference list the candidate provides, do your own analysis and ask questions to the candidates during face-to-face discussions
Has your organization covered the risk of fake candidate scam in your risk assessment?
What could go wrong and how susceptible your organization is to this scam?
Remember, this can happen more often than you think.
At Gorisco, our motto is 'Embedding Resilience' and we are committed to make the organizations and their workforce resilient. Reach out to us if you have any queries, clarifications or need any support on your initiatives.
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