EmployeeScreenIQ Blog

Well congratulations to me.  I just completed my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) coursework and earned a graduate degree.  Mom and Dad are as proud as they could be.  And thanks to our tuition reimbursement program at EmployeeScreenIQ, continuing education didn’t cost me a dime.  I’ll admit, it was a lot of hard work, but seeing that degree on the wall is all the validation I need to know that it was worth all the blood, sweat and tears.

Now, let’s evaluate the above when the truth is inserted in place of the lies and deception.

Well congratulations to me.  I just completed paid for my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) coursework and earned they shipped me a graduate degree.  Mom and Dad are as proud as they could be would never approve of this type of academic fraud.  And thanks to our tuition reimbursement program at EmployeeScreenIQ, continuing education didn’t cost me a dime (this part was true. I expensed the cost to my company).  I’ll admit, it was a lot of hard work finding a diploma mill, but seeing that degree on the wall is all the validation I need to know that it was worth all the blood, sweat and tears.

Let me tell you how easy it was for me to “earn” my MBA.  I found an online diploma mill and with a couple keystrokes, input my information, the degree I wanted and my area of focus.  I then paid the $150.00 fee and in just 10 days I had a very authentic-looking diploma with a raised seal and everything.  The package was sent from Portugal and included information for how I could have the degree verified.

Do you have a good practice in place to ensure that your job applicants and employees haven’t committed this same type of fraud?

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I typically don’t comment on content I read in online forums, but I saw this post on WallStreetOasis.com about a recent college grad who has accepted a position with Goldman Sachs, but must first submit to an employment background check before it’s official.  Unfortunately, he/she now realized that they inadvertently lied on their resume and is trying to decide whether to come clean prior to the background check. See below.

I’m so worried about it and haven’t been able to sleep well…

Here’s my advice.  Whether Goldman Sachs actually checks this information or not (and I’m quite certain they do) is immaterial.  This oversight on your resume is simply that until you realize it is false.  My recommendation would be to come clean and let them know the truth.  This is nothing more than a technicality and can be explained by addressing it ahead of time.  If they conduct the background check and find out otherwise, your oversight becomes a lie.  And even if that particular distinction would have no bearing on your employment prospects, the lie speaks volumes.

Just my two cents.

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Usually when we talk about fake degrees, we are referring to diploma or degree mills.  There have been many stories in the news as of late about people using academic credentials purchased by these “schools” to either land a job or obtain a higher position or pay.  In addition to the issuing the diploma or degree, many of these institutions offer to verify their “authenticity” in order to make their product seem like the real deal. 

In this story, however, the degree this individual claimed was not from a diploma mill – it was from the University of Miami.  Apparently this guy thought it would be a good idea forge a degree document from the school, photocopy it and submit it to a potential employer in order to land a $127,932/year paying position.  All it took was one phone call to the University of Miami to find out he had never attended the college.  He now faces one charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument and three charges of offering a false instrument for filing.  If convicted, he could end up serving an 11-year prison sentence.

BUSTED: Sanitation construction project manager arrested for submitting a fake degree

Myles Miller, NY City Hall Examiner – May 26, 2010

MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO COLLEGE.

The Department of Investigation arrested city Sanitation Department construction project manager Bernard Feraca, 57 of Bronxville, NY for using a “fake academic degree to land a high paying City job”, according to DOI Commissioner Rose Gil Hearn.

Feraca, who submitted a fake Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Miami, was charged today with criminal possession of a forged instrument and three counts of offering a false instrument for filing. If convicted, Feraca could face 11 years in prison. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., has assigned ADA Peter Rienzi to prosecute this case.

Fereca, joined the Department of Sanitation in February 2010, and was assigned to the Engineering Support Services unit.

His city salary was $127,932; he has been suspended without pay.

Under a city policy the DOI conducts a thorough background check of roughly 2,000 employees annually who are promoted to management positions, earn more than $80,000 annually and deal with city contracts or  super sensitive city computer programs.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court a DOI “investigation found that on January 22nd, 2010, the defendant submitted to DSNY a photocopy of his purported Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.”

The investigation proved there was no record of Feraca ever being a student at the University of Miami.
On Feraca’s Facebook page he has two friends who went to the University of Miami, and lists among his likes “Big Prize Giveaways.”

This is the latest in a series of bogus diplomas and degrees from city employees. In 2007, a DOI report showed the submission of “bogus degrees” in the Fire Department. That investigation resulted in “14 disciplinary actions and improved verification procedures at the FDNY” according to the Department of Investigation.

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Did you know that EmployeeScreenIQ finds a 52% discrepancy rate between what an applicant claims about their education and work experience and what we find when we verify such information?  Check out this sage advice from John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., on resume fraud:

“As millions of Americans struggle with long-term unemployment, the temptation to stretch the truth on one’s résumé to gain a competitive advantage is becoming harder to resist. Some desperate job seekers are going so far as to establish fake references. However, the payoff may not be worth the risk, according to one employment authority.

There is very little proof that any form of résumé boosting directly results in a job interview, much less a job offer. In contrast, there are scores of examples of individuals who have been eliminated from candidacy or fired after a fraudulent résumé was uncovered.”

John offers the following advice to job seekers:

* The Short Chronological Résumé

A short chronological résumé summarizes the last 10 years of your career in reverse, briefly listing your accomplishments from the most recent to the much older.

* The Long Chronological Résumé

Use the long chronological résumé when you meet with the hiring decision maker. Its goal is to distinguish you from other contenders whose backgrounds resemble yours; therefore, focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities. This is your chance to provide a comprehensive summary of your career accomplishments.

* The Functional Résumé

A functional résumé stresses abilities such as purchasing, marketing, selling, managing or analyzing. Résumés organized by function, rather than chronology, give you an opportunity to gloss over a gap in job history or frequent job hopping. If you have many skills, this kind of résumé can market you as a sort of utility infielder who can perform well in several functions.

* Use Relevant Key Words

Increasing numbers of search firms, executive recruiters, and personnel managers initially use computer software to scan résumés for history, education, location, and so forth. Once scanned, résumés can be sorted by these key words to produce a customized list of professionals in a certain field. By including the right key words in your short chronological résumé, you can increase the chances that it will pass the screening process.

* Avoid Flash Or Gimmick

Think about the position for which you are applying. Bright florescent paper, glitter, perfume or different colored fonts seem unprofessional. Thinking outside the box is always welcome, but using gaudy tricks to catch the hiring manager’s eye will most likely irritate instead of dazzle.

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I think this chart helps to explain the explosion of and prevalence of diploma mills and other misrepresentations of academic credentials.  In 2010, those without a high school degree are nearly four times more likely to be unemployed than those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.  Those with a high school diploma, but no college experience are twice as likely to be unemployed than their counterparts with college degrees.  And even those with some college experience, but no degree are nearly 38% more likely to be unemployed.

Remember, the best way to determine the authenticity of ones’ claimed academic qualifications is to conduct an education verification as part of your employment background screening program.

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While not really news to us at this point, we’re seeing an emerging trend of job applicants with fake job references.  We highlighted this issue a few months ago, referring to organizations that will sell fake references as “Employment Mills“, the evil twin to Diploma Mills.  To review, an applicant can pay these fake references providers to confirm employment, salary, dates of employment, etc.

I found a great Q&A highlighting this problem in the Anchorage Daily News and not to be glib, but you know this problem is spreading when it is hitting all corners of the country.  A local management trainer was asked by a company who was taken to the cleaners by an employee what more they could have done to prevent the bad hire, particularly after they checked her stellar references.  See response below.

A. I’ve learned never to trust reference letters.

Some employers write honest recommendations. Others write falsely positive letters out of guilt or to stem potential problems from laid-off or terminated employees. Some conflict-averse employers take the easy road out when departing employees press for a glowing recommendation. Further, an astonishing number of applicants “borrow” company stationary and write their own letters.

If you want to hire a solid employee, you need to personally call each reference listed and then call references not provided you by the applicant. In this Internet-accessible age, you can search for a former supervisor by name even when the company has dissolved or the supervisor has left the company. While we urge our clients to conduct background checks to uncover criminal and civil legal problems and phony educational histories, background checks don’t replace personal reference calls.

After hearing your story, I did an Internet search for phony references and foundCareerExcuse.com, one of several newly birthed Internet sites offering fake work histories and references. These services provide job applicants hard-to-see-through fake references from live receptionists.

Those using CareerExcuse.com can develop a completely fake yet validated resume with prompts such as “choose your career history”; “pick your start and end date”; “get rid of” a 3-year resume gap” and “choose your salary.” According to the site, it provides “a real company with a real address and a real 800 number” with “operators standing by” to field prospective employer calls. The site’s home page claims “bankrupt companies make a great previous employer” and offers that their “management company” has “dozens of bankrupt companies …ready to provide any inquirer your desired reference information.”

How can employers defend against resume and reference fraud? — by making extensive reference checking calls and exploring all danger signals before and after hire.

For example, your applicant badmouthed her most recent employer and then asked you not to contact him. By complying, you missed the other side of the story. Was it only bad luck that your applicant worked for three companies that bankrupted? Did she potentially speed these companies on their downward spiral with costs from a business manager who used antiquated work methods and piled up a fat overtime expense? And if you make a mistake — admit it.

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Our good friends from the UK, Verifile Ltd are clearly the international authority on all things related to diploma mills.  EmployeeScreenIQ has been working hand in hand with them to highlight the problem and give employers the tools they need to ensure that their job applicants are not misrepresenting their educational background.  They have exposed more than 3,000 fraudulent institutions across the world and are adding new ones every day.

They just released a product called Accredibase, which is a global database of unaccredited education institutions and unrecognized accrediting agencies, as a commercial product. We invite you to check it out.  They have also published a report designed to give an insight into the operation of diploma mills, the risks they pose and their global reach, and to propose solutions for tackling this important issue.  This report can be downloaded at www.accredibase.com/report

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Make no mistake, the use of diploma mills and other fake academic credentials is on the rise.  We recently highlighted this epidemic in our recent white paper, Smoke, Mirrors and Resumes: The Growing Threat of Diploma Mills (download your free copy here).  If the facts we presented weren’t enough, check out some of the real world examples shared by George Gollin, a board member of the U.S.-based Council for Higher Education Accreditation in a recent interview with CNN.

Among the examples cited in “Uncovering the Multi-Million Dollar Fake Degree Industry” are  the following:

• “According to a story in Wired Magazine, his interest turned to outrage after he stumbled upon news of a forensic psychologist who had purchased her degree. ‘Here’s this person who’s untrained doing therapeutic interventions,’he told Wired.”  “I thought, ‘Jesus, this is really bad.””
• “Gollin gave the example of one American who bought a Bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering, and who’s now working in the control room of a nuclear power plant.”
• “He also cited a U.S. degree mill that sells fake PhDs to real medical doctors for $10,000, and added that unqualified doctors have been jailed in the U.S. after attempting to practice medicine with a medical degree bought online.”

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It goes without saying that employers have to be ever-vigilant in their employment screening practices to ensure they have all the facts when it comes to hiring employees.

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The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that University of Notre Dame is asking all the right questions, performing thorough background checks and exercising careful due diligence as they search for a new football coach (Is Brian Kelly the Right Fit for Notre Dame).  Everyone recalls the embarrassment the school faced after their newly hired head coach, George O’Leary admitted to lying about his academic qualifications.  It appeared that their leading interested candidate was University of Cincinnati head coach, Brian Kelly, but that they may have had second thoughts after looking at his present and his past.

Let’s start with the past.  According to the Sentinel, “When Kelly was coach at Central Michigan in 2004, a fight involving at least four of his players outside a bar left a 26-year-old man dead. Kelly then seemed to defend some of his players, who may have perjured themselves in trying to protect a teammate.”  Should this give Notre Dame pause for concern?  Maybe.

I have also seen other reports that suggest the catholic school might have concerns over his ‘right to choose’ stance on abortion.  I can’t believe that the school would publicly admit to this, but we’d all have to fools to believe this won’t play a role.

Now on to some lighter things, Kelly’s present.  The fact is that Kelly is a great offensive mind, but his defense leaves much to be desired.  Cincinnati is among the lowest ranked defenses in the country.  Sound a little like Charlie Weis?

Okay, that comment might not have sounded like it had anything to do with background checks, but it certainly does.  Any thorough background check will include on the job performance as well as potential adverse information from the past.  Remember, it’s not just criminal records and resume fraud that determine whether someone is a good candidate or not.  It’s the whole picture.

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Notre Dame has fired their over-promising and under-performing head football coach, Charlie Weis.  Rumors are spreading like wildfire for who will replace Weis.  Especially after athletic director, Jack Swarbrick promised to return the school to the era of Knute Rockne, Ara Parseghian, Frank Leahy and Lou Hotlz.  We’ve already heard the names of some pretty heavy hitters as possible candidates: Tony Dungy, Bob Stoops, Jon Gruden, Urban Meyer, Kirk Ferentz, Gary Patterson, Brian Kelly and Jim Harbaugh.

Not a background check story? Think again.  Everyone remembers a few years back when Notre Dame hired an up and coming coach named George O’ Leary to return the team to prominence following a less than stellar performance by his predecessor Bob Davie.  Unfortunately, O’ Leary only lasted a couple days on the job and was unceremoniously terminated because the school found out through media reports that he committed resume fraud and lied about his academic credentials.  Doh!  A simple Education Verification would have saved them the embarrassment that followed.

Here’s hoping they decide to conduct a thorough background check on whoever they bring in.  It will save them time, money and unwanted media attention.

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