10% of All CVs have False Information

For long, Indians have indulged in extrapolating their skills and hiding shortcomings while preparing their resumes. Despite changes in HR practices, the trend continues.

A survey done by recruitment consultancy First Advantage showed that the rate of faking has increased to 9.9% in 2012 from 8.1% in 2011, with Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai leading the pack. Chennai registered 7.57% discrepancies between October and December 2012, which means 76 of every 1,000 resumes had a bogus element in it.

"People create fake resumes when they don't get jobs on campus. The skill levels are low and people don't get good jobs immediately after graduation. When students lose time, they aren't seen as freshers by companies and hence they cook up 'work experience'," said Madhumurthy Ronanki, president, TalentSprint, a skill development firm.

While it isn't industry-specific, fake resumes are more common in the IT industry. With many fake resumes floating about, companies take everything with a pinch of salt and have tweaked their HR practices. "Companies em ploy private detectives for verifica tion before recruiting middle-level and senior people who have been part-time employees of another company," said an HR official of a software consultancy firm in Chennai. "Some companies have outsourced background screening to (external) agencies, which verify information such as previous employers and institutions where candidates have studied," said Chithranath Vadakkeppat, a senior human resource manager.

The bug doesn't bite private firms alone. "At least a dozen civil servants have been caught in similar crimes in last two years. They manipulate or forge documents proving age, caste, religion, qualification and even achievements," said a senior official with the state employment exchange.

"Most cases go unchecked or are ignored due to lack of provisions to verify facts," he said. Tamil Nadu has a separate government body, Professional and Executive Employment Office, to speed up recruitment processes.

Initiatives to curb faking resumes, like Nasscom's National Skill Registry, which has a database of all skilled talent and employable people for IT companies, haven't had an effect yet, Ronanki said. "About 20% of employees are fired within three months of joining the company when verification results show up discrepancies," he said.

Deep checks are really important to ensure good hiring in an organization or else what is ultimately hampered is the productivity of the business. So next time when you hire an employee, make sure his resume speaks complete truth.

Source:TOI