EmployeeScreenIQ Blog

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.

Continue Reading

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.

Full Article

Continue Reading

Hi everyone! This is my first post on our new platform after re-launching EmployeeScreen University this week.  So, as you can see I am very excited!  Fortunately for all of us this one will be short and to the point.

Today, The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) posted a great article to their website; Fake Job Reference Services Add New Wrinkle to Screening .  As you know this is a topic we have written about many times over the years.  In fact, we just released a great white paper on this exact subject called: Smoke, Mirrors and Resumes:  The Growing Threat of Diploma Mills.  The article touches on the importance of background checks and quality employment screening practices but more directly lays out the risk.  In it they say:

New web-based services that offer fake work histories and references to job seekers are changing the complexion of resume-padding. These services further complicate the challenges employers face in identifying and hiring honest, qualified employees.

You need to be a SHRM member to view the article!  I hope you enjoy!

Continue Reading

I first came across this topic earlier today reading Sam Narisi’s blog, HR Recruiting Alert.  A brilliant piece that originated from an article in last months Wall Street Journal.  Applicants are dumbing down their resumes so they don’t look OVERQUALIFIED!  In Narisi’s piece, “The New Lie Applicants Are Telling.” he states:

With jobs hard to come by, more and more applicants are lying on their resumes. But they’re not the kind of lies you’re used to.

As HR pros know, it’s not out of the question for candidates to inflate their past job titles and duties, or add academic degrees that were never completed.

But these days, many out-of-work managers are looking for stop-gap jobs and are stretching the truth in a different way — by “dumbing down” their credentials so they don’t appear overqualified.

A lot of formerly high-up employees are willing to step a few rungs down the ladder just to get a steady paycheck. Often, that requires them to convince hiring managers they won’t jump ship the moment the market improves and something better comes up.

One way their doing that: changing job titles to look less impressive, according to the Wall Street Journal. For example, one marketing exec listed her previous jobs as “manager” and “trend researcher” to “staff” and “office support.”

Candidates are also hiding degrees and other academic achievements. One woman looking for temporary clerical work said she received no calls from employers until she stopped listing her master’s degree on her resume.

More

According to the Wall Street Journal’s article:

Kristin Konopka sent out nearly 100 copies of her résumé in January in search of receptionist work, but got only one callback. That’s when Ms. Konopka, a 29-year-old New York actress and yoga teacher, took her master’s degree and academic teaching experience off her résumé.

The calls started coming in. The slimmer version of her résumé landed in 30 in-boxes and earned her three callbacks and two interviews. “It definitely picked up the interest,” says Ms. Konopka, who realized quickly that people don’t “want to hire anyone who is overqualified.”

Securing work in a tight economy means more job seekers might find themselves applying for positions below their qualifications. Many unemployed professionals are willing to take paycuts for the promise of a paycheck. But to get a foot in the door, candidates are gearing down their résumés by hiding advanced degrees, changing too-lofty titles, shortening work experience descriptions, and removing awards and accolades.

More

So, when we started EmployeeScreenIQ in 1999 one of our pitches was not to overpay candidates because they lied about their qualifications.  I guess employers need to be cautious and do background checks so not to pay market value when they are overqualified? Chew on that for a while???

Continue Reading

We are huge fans of Lisa Kaye and her company greenlightjobs. Not only is Lisa an entrepenuer and saavy business owner, she is a seasoned HR executive with experience leading some of the most recognized brands in the entertainment industry. We also happen to think that she’s a great writer.

Lisa was kind enough to write a Guest Article for employeescreen University entitled, “Don’t Lie About How Good You Are . . .”, where she lends sage advice to executives looking for jobs who are concerned about being “over-qualified”.  While many know the hazards or embellishing or lying on a resume, Lisa suggests that efforts to “dumb down” a resume can be equally harmful.

Here’s an excerpt from her article:

There is so much competition in the market place at the moment, with many former senior level executives vying for jobs far beneath their skills and qualifications it’s become a virtual (no pun intended even though we are an online recruitment company), feeding frenzy!

So how do you warn senior level execs who are being out-placed and replaced on a daily basis of the potential hazards of the job market mine field currently inhabiting our world?

Well, the first thing you tell them is not to lie about their qualifications and skills or “dummy down” their resumes in hopes of getting a look-see from some eager and hopeful recruiter looking to make a placement. This market is tough, nothing new there. In fact, most job markets even when there are an abundance of jobs available, offer its own unique challenges from which we must navigate. When jobs are a plenty, the executive is courted like a debutante at a cotillion ball. Recruiters, employers, hiring managers alike pull out all the stops and throw in more perks to entice, seduce and eventually overcome their prey-The Candidate. When jobs are scare however, there is no room for pleasantries and it’s a game of survival of the fittest. The once coveted executive must now become savvy, slick and all so focused on how and when they will be enticed, seduced and ultimately overtaken by a job offer!

So what’s the best approach to take in re-entering the job market, vying for not so senior jobs, when your resume reads like a “Who’s Who” in Executive Leadership and you were once listed on the “Top 50 Most Influential People to Watch?”

Read More

Continue Reading

We are seeing more and more of these stories as employers are catching on to this con game.  As background checks are now part of many employers’ hiring practices, resume lies and forged credentials are being debunked before the applicant can step through the front door.  But what about those who have already made it past the front gate and collected a paycheck (or 150)?  What you don’t know may be hurting you.

Former UNL professor arrested; police say he lied about Ph.D.

By Brandi Kruse, NewsNetNebraska – April 29, 2009

A former University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty member has been arrested on charges of fraud for misrepresenting his academic standing and pocketing a higher university salary as a result.

On April 10, UNL police launched an investigation into Bradley West, a former assistant professor of management in the UNL College of Business Administration.

“It was discovered that he did not obtain his Ph.D. but provided the UNL department a false record,” said Captain Carl Oestmann with the UNL Police Department.

Police say West gave the college a forged Ph.D. certificate from Michigan State University to keep his job as an associate professor.

Oestmann said West was offered the position in 2005 with the stipulation he finish the Ph.D.

“The offer clearly states that if he had not completed his Ph.D. … the job title would change to instructor for up to two years,” Oestmann said. 

At the end of two years, West would have been let go if he had not provided proof he had finished the degree. Oestmann said West gave the university the forged certificate in 2007, the year his position would have been terminated.

Oestmann said UNL police believe West used the forged document for monetary gain in the form of salary increases totaling more than $5,000.

More

Continue Reading

Bankrate.com just released a great article entitled “6 Ways to Sabotage Your Career“.  They even featured some content from yours’ truly.  While I think they twisted my quote about some companies having thresholds for resume “white lies”, overall they did a good job at highlighting some career no-no’s.  Topics include:

• Bashing Your Employer
• Mixing Pleasure with Business
• Fudging the Truth
• Being Real Regardless of the Culture
• Just Say No to Opportunities
• React Poorly to Stress or Fear

Read the full article here . . .

Continue Reading

Yesterday, a U.K. judge branded Caroline Evans “a consistent and persistent confidence trickster” after she repeatedly lied about her criminal history, education and qualifications in order to land jobs.  She has been sentenced to six months in jail.

If any of the companies Evans worked for would have bothered to run a pre-employment background check, they could have easily verified her claims as false.   Hopefully this results in lessons learned for both Evans and the companies she scammed – don’t lie and verify!

Con artist jailed for lying about job qualifications

By Neil Hunter, The Northern Echo – February 10, 2009

A CON artist was yesterday jailed for a series of deceptions in which she lied about her qualifications and good character to get jobs.

Caroline Evans was branded a consistent and persistent confidence trickster by the judge, who jailed her for six months.

A court heard how the North Yorkshire mother-of-four had a bogus CV that boasted of educational and nursing qualifications.

Her teaching degree from Liverpool Hope University did not exist, but that did not prevent her being offered and taking posts in schools.

Evans once even worked as a £18,000-a-year primary school teacher when she was on paid sick leave from a job with a fire service.

She also lied about being ill to avoid a staff induction course – when she was really in court in Manchester facing fraud charges.

Evans, 38, was offered the job of head of psychology at Lady Lumleys School, in Pickering, North Yorkshire, in March 2004.

Claims that she had a psychology degree, a post-graduate education certificate and was a registered nurse were backed up by bogus certificates.

It was not until five months later that Evans’ lies began to unravel when the school received a tip-off about her background.

Officials were told she had been convicted in Manchester, and their checks also revealed that her qualifications were untrue.

The school called police, but it was three years before Evans was arrested – after she carried out a further three scams.

First, she lied about her nursing qualifications and criminal record to get a job with Foresight Residential Services, in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

Evans was employed as a care worker in 2005 and, on occasions, stayed overnight at the homes of elderly and vulnerable people.

In August the following year, Evans secured a job with the St John Ambulance service as a trainer and assessor, and later applied for a sales executive job.

Dan Cordey, prosecuting, told the court that the application included a tick box about previous convictions.

Evans said she had none.

In August 2007, she was arrested after officials were told Evans was barred from working with children for earlier assaulting a teenager.

Investigations revealed Evans also illegally claimed more than £1,000 in benefits while working for the St John Ambulance.

Deborah Sherwin, in mitigation, said most of Evans’ offending was at a time when she was involved in a violent relationship with a criminal.

She said Evans was ashamed about her behaviour and had not even told her children – three girls and a boy.

Evans, of Dondeen Avenue, Thirsk, admitted fraud and failing to notify a change in her circumstances.

Continue Reading

Have you ever had an applicant claim on a resume that he or she was the recipient of a Medal of Honor?  If so, you were probably pretty impressed.  I would be.  But did you ever think of verifying that fact?  If not, maybe you should.  Some individuals have reached a new low and started fudging either their military experience and/or the accolades they received during their time of service.  This is a complete disservice to those who have so bravely served our country and rightfully earned those awards.

What this story says to me is that people will lie about anything and everything.  For every piece of information provided on a resume, I could give you a handful of reasons why a person would lie about it.  The importance of a thorough background check cannot be stressed enough.

Claims of medals amount to stolen valor

Tribune investigation reveals hundreds of unsupported claims regarding veterans with war medals

By John Crewdson, Chicago Tribune Correspondent – October 26, 2008

WASHINGTON – Scores of Americans, from clergymen to lawyers to CEOs, are claiming medals of valor they never earned.

A Tribune investigation has found that the fabrication of heroic war records is far more extensive than you might think.

Take the online edition of Who’s Who, long the nation’s premier biographical reference. Of the 333 people whose profiles state they earned one of the nation’s most esteemed military medals, fully a third of those claims cannot be supported by military records.

Even in death, these stories live on. A look at 273 obituaries published in the past decade alone found that in more than four of five cases, official records didn’t support decorations for bravery attributed to the deceased.

The Tribune also found bogus decorations, including at least two Medals of Honor, engraved on headstones in military cemeteries across the country.

In all, more than half the medals for bravery examined, including the exalted Medal of Honor, are unsupported by official military records obtained by the Tribune from federal archives under the Freedom of Information Act.

The men whose obituaries or profiles in Who’s Who make these claims are mainly individuals of note and accomplishment: lawyers, physicians, clergymen, CEOs, business executives, company presidents, university professors, career military officers, teachers, policemen, elected officials, even a psychiatrist.

More

Continue Reading

Many who lie on their resume do so in good conscience.  There are some who feel guilty about their deception, but not guilty enough to turn themselves in.  Every now and then, however, there will be someone riddled with shame over the lies they have told and own up to it.  Such is the case with Andrea Stanfield, a woman whose lies obtained her a yearly income topping six figures.  Ms. Stanfield wrote a book about her experience dealing with resume fraud and the new-found honesty she obtained.

Faking it can work, but…

By Dalia Colon, St. Petersburg Times – October 27, 2008

For Andrea Stanfield, there’s no such thing as a little white lie. In 1998, Stanfield exaggerated her resume to include a bachelor’s degree from Akron University when she actually held only a high school diploma. The fact that the northeast Ohio school’s real name is the University of Akron should have been a dead giveaway, but this detail slipped passed HR — and nearly everyone else in Stanfield’s life. The fib led to jobs in the financial sectors of three Tampa Bay companies, where her salary with bonuses topped six figures.

To keep the lie going, the Coquina Key resident had to invent more falsehoods: funny stories about college, a fake diploma. She even deceived her husband and mother. By the time she was 33, a decade after she’d first lied, Stanfield was having anxiety attacks. She felt guilty for encouraging her subordinates and her daughter, now 11, to go to college when she hadn’t. Figuring she’d get fired as soon as the truth came out, Stanfield resigned without saying why.

She recounts her tale, including whether her marriage survived, in Phony! How I Faked My Way Through Life, which the publisher assured us has been vetted.

More

Continue Reading