The month of March has been designated “fraud protection” month. While most people think of fraud as those internet or telephone scams, you may be surprised to learn the extent of “resume fraud” in the marketplace. For instance, some statistics suggest that 20-45% of all resumes contain some sort of false, inaccurate and/or misleading information. Frankly, this has not been my experience, but that isn’t to say resume fraud isn’t a problem. Being an optimist, I also must say that I have a hard time believing that someone would deliberately falsify their resume. My hopes are that they may have simply overstated some elements or are careless in their reporting. For instance, I accept that it is always challenging to recall dates for acting positions and/or roles for which there were only monthly assignments. I also know that job titles change and that both old and new titles sometimes don’t make sense to a reader; but does that mean the statements were fraudulently stated?

One area that might catch my eye when reviewing a resume is the section on education. With candidates coming from all over the world, it is difficult to be aware of all the universities and degrees that are available. This type of fraud is quite foolhardy as it is more easily checked. In one instance, I caught a very incorrect and blatant statement by a candidate who stated he had a master’s degree. Fortunately, I was fully aware that the university he referred to was a well known “undergraduate” college that didn’t even grant master’s degrees.  You can bet that he was removed from my candidate list in a hurry, but I still wonder where his fraudulent resume did take him.

One of the more interesting challenges a recruiter might have today is trying to confirm the validity of workplaces that are stated on a resume. With such volatility in the marketplace, and with all the mergers and acquisitions, companies come and go in the blink of an eye. In this case, there is often no means of confirming the earlier existence of the employer without undertaking considerable research.

References today also provide challenges for both recruiters and candidates. With the rise of a “litigious” mentality, some of the larger corporations are now refusing to provide references other than stating the dates when a candidate was employed. These corporations are just too afraid of being sued for comments that may be perceived as jeopardizing the candidate’s opportunities in the marketplace. Still, others experience a change of management and their former manager may no longer be available to provide the depth of reference that might be desired.

While resume fraud isn’t going to be prevented, there are several strategies employers can take to investigate their candidates when uncertainty arises. Officially, employers are turning more and more to background checks which can confirm information related to a criminal record, credit, employment and education verification as well as driver abstracts.  Employers are also beginning to make good use of assessment tools that will help to understand a candidate’s personality, motivations and communication style as well as discover issues related to integrity. These assessments direct recruiters to areas which require further probes for information and may provide sample interview questions.

Employers are also turning to social media as a key means of checking out their candidates. With a huge number of people using the various social media sites, it is rather easy to find someone and to learn more about them than an ordinary interview would provide. For instance, stories abound of professionals who can dress the part during the day and then brag about their wild drunken parties on their social website, not realizing that this information is now available to the whole world. Employers who are looking for a responsible candidate with a balanced lifestyle will pass on that candidate without them being aware of the reason - they simply won’t get an interview call.

While resume fraud will more than likely continue, candidates need to realize that there is really nowhere to hide.

Paul Croteau, FCMA, B.Comm is managing partner at Legacy Bowes Group. He can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it