Fraudulent Resumes: Are Employers Getting the Shaft?

Resume fraud is big business for some unscrupulous companies like FakeDegree.com and big problems for legitimate organizations who wish to hire quality people. The problem is this plague on integrity is not confined to small business or low level employees. No, Washington Post reporter Janet Cook flubbed her academic record so that she could get that prime job at Washington Post. Television evangelist Pat Robertson flat out lied about the date of his marriage and also stated in a resume that he had attended graduate study abroad when, in truth he had attended an arts course for tourists.

George O'Leary is probably the most recent celebrity resume fraudster. His five day career as Notre Dame's football coach came to a screeching halt when it was discovered that he had not won the three football letters at the University of New Hampshire, his alma mater, as he falsely stated on his resume. In fact, he had not even been able to play because of illness and injury. To make matters worse, it was learned that he did not earn the masters degree from New York University as he claimed. But he had gotten away with this farce for more than two decades. And what was the result? O'Leary was promptly fired, but the prestigious Notre Dame wound up with egg on its face for not thoroughly checking the credentials of their celebrity coach.

If a slick resume fraudster can get away with lying on their resume and wind up in prime positions within organizations as prestigious as the Washington Post and Notre Dame, what can average businesses do to protect themselves? As a business owner what can you do to get the records that you need to detect a fraud, thief or liar before they enter your company?