AccuScreen CEO Will Discuss Resume Lying on Fox 13 News Tampa Bay

In a segment to appear during the Fox 13 Late News, Kevin Connell of AccuScreen addresses the increased incidence of resume falsifications and provides advice for job-seekers and employers.

Tampa, FL / January 14, 2009 – AccuScreen Founder and CEO Kevin Connell will appear today on the 10 p.m. edition of the Fox 13 News in a segment focusing on resume lying among job-seekers. Following its broadcast the segment will be available for archived viewing on the Fox 13 website.

AccuScreen is a leader and expert in employment background screening, specializing in criminal background checks. Connell will speak on the most common resume lies that his firm finds in their work with employers. The most common resume falsifications involve these key pieces of information:

• Dates of employment
• Job title (inflated rank)
• Criminal records
• Salary level
• Education (e.g. bogus degrees from diploma ‘mills’)

• Professional license (e.g. MD, RN, CPA, etc.)
• Self-owned business (e.g. ‘ghost’ company)

“In a challenging economy, people tend to lie more,” says Connell. “I regularly teach classes and seminars about the routine causes of fraud in the workplace. These same elements are at work in resume lying and employers have a measure of control in addressing these factors.”

According to Connell, job-seekers must be made aware that in an especially competitive job market, employers are intensely scrutinizing employment backgrounds, education credentials, and other key information contained in their resume or application.

“It’s a buyer’s market for hiring managers and recruiters,” says Connell. “Our clients, who know that 43% of resumes we screen include a discrepancy, likewise know to be vigilant and thorough in their background screening measures.”

Those who wish to view the Fox News Segment during the on-air broadcast should tune in at 10 p.m. The segment will be available for viewing online. AccuScreen will provide a link to the recorded broadcast on their website.

For additional information about resume lying and matters of employment screening, AccuScreen provides an eBook, “The Business Guide to Background Checks” available on the company blog for download here: http://www.backgroundcheckscenter.com/

About AccuScreen, Inc.

Since 1994, AccuScreen, Inc. has been an industry pioneer, leader and expert in employment background screening, specializing in criminal background checks. Its reports are delivered to companies across the world in 2 – 72 hours. CEO Kevin G. Connell founded the company with a burning desire that companies hire the right people from the start, resulting in greater cost control and better safety in the workplace. Mr. Connell also serves as a national speaker and expert in negligent hiring, resume fraud, employee theft, and embezzlement.

AccuScreen CEO Will Discuss Resume Lying on Fox 13 News Tampa Bay

In a segment to appear during the Fox 13 Late News, Kevin Connell of AccuScreen addresses the increased incidence of resume falsifications and provides advice for job-seekers and employers.

Tampa, FL / January 14, 2009 – AccuScreen Founder and CEO, Kevin Connell, will appear today on the 10 p.m. edition of the Fox 13 News in a segment focusing on resume lying among job-seekers. Following its broadcast the segment will be available for archived viewing on the Fox 13 website.

AccuScreen is a leader and expert in employment background screening, specializing in criminal background checks. Connell will speak on the most common resume lies that his firm finds in their work with employers. The most common resume falsifications involve these key pieces of information:

• Dates of employment
• Job title (inflated rank)
• Criminal records
• Salary level
• Education (e.g. bogus degrees from diploma ‘mills’)
• Professional license (e.g. MD, RN, CPA, etc.)
• Self-owned business (e.g. ‘ghost’ company)

“In a challenging economy, people tend to lie more,” says Connell. “I regularly teach classes and seminars about the routine causes of fraud in the workplace. These same elements are at work in resume lying and employers have a measure of control in addressing these factors.”

According to Connell, job-seekers must be made aware that in an especially competitive job market, employers are intensely scrutinizing employment backgrounds, education credentials, and other key information contained in their resume or application.

“It’s a buyer’s market for hiring managers and recruiters,” says Connell. “Our clients, who know that 43% of resumes we screen include a discrepancy, likewise know to be vigilant and thorough in their background screening measures.”

Those who wish to view the Fox News Segment during the on-air broadcast should tune in at 10 p.m. The segment will be available for viewing online. AccuScreen will provide a link to the recorded broadcast on their website.

For additional information about resume lying and matters of employment screening, AccuScreen provides an eBook, “The Business Guide to Background Checks” available on the company blog for download here: http://www.backgroundcheckscenter.com/

About AccuScreen, Inc.

Since 1994, AccuScreen, Inc. has been an industry pioneer, leader and expert in employment background screening, specializing in criminal background checks. Its reports are delivered to companies across the world in 2 – 72 hours. CEO, Kevin G. Connell, founded the company with a burning desire that companies hire the right people from the start, resulting in greater cost control and better safety in the workplace. Mr. Connell also serves as a national speaker and expert in negligent hiring, resume fraud, employee theft, and embezzlement.

What May Be Lurking “Between the Lines” of Your Applicant’s Resume

According to the most recent surveys, nearly 3% and 7% of all job applicants have either a misdemeanor or felony criminal record, respectively. This can be disastrous for employers looking to hire people to fill sensitive positions. These types of careers might include health care workers, CEO’s, childcare professionals, police officers, and accounting personnel. Whether someone pads their resume or leaves something out, we find them out. At AccuScreen, we do thorough background searches and run detailed reports on your job seekers to provide you with most accurate and timely information. We equip you to make the very best decisions about whom to hire.

What happens when an employee makes an egregious error on the job? For a nanny with a past child abuse conviction, it becomes critical to a child’s well being to know this beforehand. For a hospital, it could mean a costly lawsuit for errors made by a nurse who has a prior drug conviction and did not complete the required rehabilitation. An accountant with a history of misappropriating funds or skimming off the top for themselves is a risk too big to take. Unfortunately, these situations are realities in today’s job market. People make mistakes and before giving someone a job, it’s necessary) to know their criminal history prior to hiring them. It’s really the best way to protect yourself, your company, and your clientele from hiring a person who could potentially be dangerous.

With the downturn of the economy and unemployment reaching its highest level in 16 years, more people are leaving out parts of their past that may disqualify them from the job. There are fewer jobs to go around and more people saturating the job market. Competition is stiff and many people are resorting to resume falsification in order to get ahead. What advice can be given to former criminals who are trying to get an honest job and start over? The first advice is to be honest! According to a senior federal probation office in Arlington, VA, the next best thing to do is to prepare for a job while still in prison by participating in a job-training program. Another recommendation is to have a birth certificate and Social Security card on-hand so there is more to show than a prison ID card.

Employers have the task of deciding the next steps when someone comes back with a less-than-desirable past. Whether it is a DUI, prior burglary charge, or a minor drug possession charge, knowing the information in the first place is the key. Once you know that there is a criminal past, you can make an informed decision regarding whether or not to proceed with the interview and hiring process. When interviewing those who have a criminal past, it is important to consider whether they have completed job training programs while incarcerated, what their past employers have to say, and if they have completed rehabilitation courses required. These will be deciding factors for hiring that individual. With AccuScreen, resume falsification is no longer under the radar. All of the screening information you need to verify before hiring someone is available in a friendly, accurate, and timely manner.

Is Your Applicant’s Resume “Too Good to Be True”?

Why do people lie on their resumes? Usually it is because they feel that their skills or experience are inadequate for the job they are applying for. When people search for jobs they read the area where the employer has listed the education and/or experience required for the job. Sometimes, the job seeker determines that they are not up to par on paper but could definitely do a good job if given the chance. With the economy downturn and the rise of unemployment, the job market is saturated with people looking for work. Resume lies have become more and more common as people try and steal their way to the front of the pack.

According to Forbes magazine, lying on a resume is one of the most frequent lies that people tell. Even the most honest of people have fallen into the trap of stretching the truth to get the job. Resumes are the first impression that a person has to make and if it’s not a good one, or an impressive one for that matter, the applicant takes the risk of not getting considered for an interview. How do hiring managers help catch these falsifications? Well, job seekers beware; AccuScreen is the go-to source for human resources when it comes to catching these types of resume lies!

As a result of ever-increasing false resume information, human resource professionals have spent more time than ever before deciphering what’s truth and what’s a lie. For employers, it is a huge risk to hire an unqualified person. In jobs where a person’s very life depends upon whom is caring for them, such as in the medical field, it is especially crucial to know when someone is fully able to do the job properly. In jobs where lying on a resume doesn’t necessarily put someone’s life at risk, when the person is caught the decision must be made whether a dishonest person like that is best suited for work your business. The smartest thing you can do as a hiring professional is to do your due diligence and screen potential candidates.

So what are the most common lies told on a person’s resume? According to Forbes Magazine, adjusting dates of employment to hide gaps is the first most common falsification. This is especially typical in women who have chosen to stay home with their children for an extended period of time beyond standard maternity leave. Other reasons for lying about dates could be that they were fired for some reason after only a short time and they wish to hide that job to avoid questions. Other deceitful information such as false college degrees are pretty common, even with the prevalence of services like AccuScreen, where employers can verify if someone really has earned a degree.

Another resume lie to look for is the omission of information such as the year they earned a degree or taking large portions out of their work history to appear more youthful. Although this may seem like a minor offense, honesty is something most hiring managers are looking for and it doesn’t say much about an applicant who lies. Other lies told include better-than-reality skills or accomplishments such as increase of sales for a company, how many people they managed, and higher than actually earned salaries. At AccuScreen, we help you catch the big lies as well as the “white lies” so you know the truth about a job applicant.

Resume Falsifications On the Rise, Likely to Worsen With the Economy, Reports AccuScreen, Inc.

Common resume lies such as misrepresenting dates of employment, management skills, and job titles are increasing across the board

Tampa, Flor. (PRWEB) July 28, 2008 — Resume falsifications are on the rise, including some outrageous resume lies, according to internal company data from AccuScreen, Inc.

ccu-Screen, a leader in employment background screening, has kept records for 14 years on resume falsification data and has noticed “spikes” correlating with economic downturns and weak labor markets. Moreover, according to company data, 43% of all resumes and job applications contain falsifications. This statistic challenges the findings of many industry studies which place the falsification rate at one-third or less of resumes and job applications.

“We’re seeing that the problem is bigger than has been previously reported,” says Kevin Connell, chief executive officer and founder of AccuScreen. “We’re also seeing an increase across the board on the most common incidences of lying on resumes.”

AccuScreen publishes an annual “Outrageous Resume Lies” report and distributes it free of charge for interested employers. Connell was recently interviewed on ABC News Now on this topic and offered examples of the worst of resumes lies. Both the outrageous lies and the banal most often involve these key pieces of information:

-   Dates of employment
-   Job title (inflated rank)
-   Criminal records
-   Salary level
-   Education (e.g. bogus degrees from diploma “mills”)
-   Professional license (e.g. MD, RN, CPA, etc.)
-   ”Ghost” company (self-owned business)

“One and a half million college students have been recently unleashed into the job market, many of them are still looking for jobs,” continues Connell. Connell worries that the recent increase in unemployment figures combined with a weakening economy will prove to be leading indicators of even more resume falsifications. Job seekers eager to stand out and gain an undeserved competitive edge should take heed.

“We want to get the word out to employers and job-seekers,” says Connell. “Employers need to be especially vigilant during these periods. Job seekers must know that more employers than ever use rigorous background screening procedures to vet the information contained on their resume.”

To view the ABC News Now interview, to download the “Top Seven Resume Lies” report, or to receive the “Outrageous Resume Lies” report, visit AccuScreen at http://www.accuscreen.com/.

About AccuScreen, Inc.
Since 1994, AccuScreen, Inc., has been an industry pioneer, leader and expert in employment background screening, specializing in criminal background checks. Its reports are delivered to companies across the world in 24-72 hours. CEO Kevin G. Connell founded the company with a burning desire that companies hire the right people from the start, resulting in greater cost control and better safety in the workplace. Mr. Connell also serves as a national speaker and expert in negligent hiring, resume fraud, employee theft, and embezzlement.