Dishonest job candidates are slipping through the cracks—and sometimes gaping holes—of corporate America’s hiring practices. Study after study shows alarming trends on both the employer and candidate side of the experience. On the whole, employers are becoming less vigilant while candidates are exploiting lapses in hiring scrutiny. The result of these trends is an increasing percentage of new hires who don’t bring the capabilities employers need, and who bring concerns employers don’t need.

An employee’s market, along with AI resume filtering bots that hunt for keywords and specializations appear to be incentivizing candidates’ dishonesty. Meanwhile, regulations affecting candidate screening are raising HR concerns about asking for information including salary histories and criminal convictions.

We already know candidate resume lies include embellished employment histories and academic qualifications, as well as phony achievements and references. But what if these misrepresentations are just the tip of the iceberg? If candidates today are willing to deceive employers, can companies depend on their truthfulness about employment lapses, previous firings, and criminal convictions? And do these trends portend future challenges with the integrity of our employees, once hired?

In this article, we will pinpoint specific vulnerabilities and failings in the hiring process revealed by recent studies and offer suggestions to seal the cracks and maintain strong hiring standards.

HireRight Employment Screening Benchmark Report

This 2018 survey of employers reveals that employers of all sizes are bullish on organizational growth, with 26 percent planning on 3-5 percent growth in 2018, and 25 percent planning on growth of 6 percent or more. Add these aggressive hiring plans to an already low unemployment rate and the conditions are ripe for hiring mistakes.

The study shows that 59 percent of employers identify “finding qualified job candidates” as a planned investment for 2018 (the highest among all investment options). Of course, these employers are competing for a shrinking pool of qualified candidates, and they are doing so amid a litigious environment with mounting compliance concerns:

• 42% of employers are concerned about negligent hiring (dishonest/unqualified candidates slipping through)
• 20% are concerned with Ban-the-box legislation (removing application questions related to previous criminal convictions)
• 20% are concerned with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Suggestions: HR managers should seek legal counsel with expertise in all of these compliance issues to determine how they affect the hiring process and what information can and cannot be obtained.

This study also pinpoints background checks that employers may need to perform. Though the vast majority of employers are conducting criminal and public record searches, the percentage of employers performing these background checks in 2018 is problematic:

• 73 percent conduct previous employment and reference checks
• 66 percent conduct identity checks
• 51 percent verify educational records and credentials
• 50 percent check motor vehicle records
• 44 percent verify professional licensures and qualifications
• 29 percent check credit history
• 14 percent check social media histories
• 13 percent check fingerprints against crime databases

Suggestions: As this report indicates, increased use of background checks results in significant benefits overall for 84 percent of employers. This includes 53 percent that report better quality of hires, 47 percent that report more consistent safety and security, and 38 percent that report improved regulatory compliance. One caveat is that social media background checks can expose employers to discrimination lawsuits.

Finally, this study reveals that HR professionals have found that candidates at all organizational levels misrepresent information on their resumes.

• 84 percent have found resume lies or misrepresentations, up from 66% in 2012
• 23 percent say background checks revealed educational misrepresentations

Suggestions: Just 52 percent of companies rescreen post-hire. Pre-hire background checks and periodic rescreening of employees can improve the quality of hires and employees.

Adzuna Study of HR Professionals, as reported in HRMorning

This 2017 study was notable for its revelations about a lack of hiring vigilance by HR professionals. Among the findings:

• 48 percent admit to not always checking an employee’s qualifications
• Just 62 percent believe they should check references
• 30 percent waive qualification checks if the candidate has previous experience
• 35% believe recruitment agencies are responsible for uncovering resume lies

This study also revealed deceit among job seekers, and a lack of consequences:

• 37 percent admitted to lying on their resume at some point in their careers
  • 83 percent of these individuals were hired despite lying
  • 43 percent said the lie(s) contributed to getting a job
• Lying has been found to be more prevalent among male candidates (58 percent) and millennials (34 percent)

Suggestions: In this study, 53 percent of HR professionals say they are worried about the poor performance of under-qualified staff. This is an issue for corporate leaders and industry representatives to address at national conventions, where they can collaborate in developing new ways to stay vigilant in hiring, given rising compliance concerns. Within companies, legal counsel should be consulted to determine how to resolve this concern.

Additional Studies Confirm the Problems

A 2017 CareerBuilder Study revealed that 75 percent of HR managers report having caught a lie on a resume. Fortunately, it also showed that only 12 percent of HR managers are likely to call a candidate that does something unusual or outrageous in for an interview.

Among HR managers who determine which applicants get in front of hiring managers, 39 percent said they spend less than a minute initially looking at a resume. Nearly one in five (19 percent) spend less than 30 seconds.

A 2017 OfficeTeam Survey cited in Ladders reveals that 46 percent of workers know someone who misrepresented information on a resume. This percentage is a 25-point spike from the workers who said they knew a resume liar in the 2011 survey. Among this group, 76 percent altered job experience, 55 percent distorted their duties, 33 percent lied about education, and 26 percent were dishonest about employment dates.

A 2017 Comparably Study cited in Ladders revealed that lying extends beyond the hire date. Of employees surveyed, 29 percent reported lying to their managers, including 4 percent who lie once a week, 5 percent who lie once a month, and 5 percent who lie once each quarter.

While 80 percent of respondents 36+ claim they “never” fib to their boss, 65 percent of those in the 18-35 age group (Millennials) say the same.

Staffing service firm OfficeTeam asked over 1,000 workers and more than 300 senior managers about lying on their resume, and almost half of them (46 percent) confirmed that they knew someone who had fibbed on their resume.

The first step toward a solution to this crisis is identifying the problem. Clearly, employers cannot afford to watch the trend line in candidate dishonesty arch upward while HR vigilance swings downward. HR professionals and hiring managers must raise concerns about these issues to their leadership teams, and to their industry associations. Everyone with a vested interest in maintaining high employment standards must have a voice in the challenging discussions ahead.