9 out of 10 businesses do not use a background check service during recruitment

Almost 9 in 10 (87%) of businesses in the UK do not use a background check service during recruitment, yet nearly two thirds say that they have encountered misrepresentations in applications from outside candidates.

Research cited on Personnel Today revealed that many misrepresentations about personal experience which could be caught by an employment screening strategy are likely slipping past UK businesses. With one third of respondents claiming that false details on candidates CVs have had a large impact on their business, the need for a background check service seems apparent.

Educational qualifications appear to be particularly open to misrepresentation, according to the figures.

78% of those who said they had experienced misrepresentation on CVs said they had seen candidates inflate their degrees, whilst 38% had encountered falsified A-level or GCSE level qualifications. A further 55% said they had seen unqualified candidates claiming to hold a degree level certification, whilst 20% said that candidate’s had claimed on their CVs that they had attended a more prestigious establishment than they had in reality.

The second biggest area of concern was the prevalence of false or misleading references. 68% of respondents said they had encountered this in the past. Other areas of the CV open to abuse include misrepresentation of experience and competency – encountered by 40% of firms – whilst 28% said they had seen experienced false facts about employment details such as length of employment or salary.

The survey also revealed that the biggest issue for vetting incoming staff for businesses was the accuracy, reliability and validity of information provided by referencing (35%). 16% said that companies providing references were often unwilling to give anything but the most basic information on a candidate’s skills, knowledge, technical ability or experience.