When an Applicant Is Untruthful
You may find this out during a reference check that you do yourself, or through a background check, but it's going to happen. You'll meet someone that you want to hire and discover that he lied on his application. Sometimes it's something minor, such as being a month or two off on the start or end date of a job.
In this case, you can always call the applicant and say something like, “I checked your reference at the hotel job you had last year. The dates they gave me are different than what you put on your application. Will you double check the dates and get back to me?” Something like this could have just been an error.
Occasionally, someone will consider their last date at a job as the last day he worked, but the employer may refer to the day they were taken off the payroll records, which could be weeks later due to lack of follow up on the company's behalf.
However, some people will stretch out the dates of one job to cover up another one in which they worked a short time or feel that they will receive an unfavorable reference. Sometimes they will exaggerate a title they had or job skill that they learned. Lying on an application is a very valid reason not to hire someone and may be valid grounds for termination if you hire the person then find out later.
If an applicant is untruthful about something that does not endanger themselves, coworkers, or the company, you may not have legal recourse to terminate the employment in some states. Make sure that you have proper documentation to prove the lie before checking into whether or not you may end the employment.
If you have already interviewed someone for a job and started a reference check, you may contact him for another interview in person or by phone if you receive conflicting information. Keep in mind that the person you speak with to verify employment may not be the person who directly supervised the applicant. For instance, someone in the payroll or human resources department may verify dates of employment and the job description, but may not know much about the person's capabilities.
In order to fairly evaluate someone, it's important to get the facts straight. For instance, if an applicant states that he used PeopleSoft at his last job, but it's not one of the usual duties for the position, this doesn't mean that the applicant was untruthful on the skills section of their application. It could simply be that the person you spoke with was not fully informed of the job duties. This is why it is helpful to speak directly with an applicant's former supervisor whenever possible.
If you suspect that someone may be stretching the truth, say something like, “Since you'll be working with Excel for several hours a day, I'd like to learn more about your skills. Tell me step by step how you set up formulas to calculate columns.” If the candidate claims to be proficient in Excel but can't explain how to do this, then he may be stretching the truth about his abilities.
Beware of people who forget to sign an application. They may be hoping that it will be overlooked and that the lack of a signature will give you no legal grounds to reverse a job offer if they are caught lying. In addition, check applications for completion and beware of people who skip the sections about felony convictions, the reason for leaving a previous employer, or other areas that may leave a negative impression.
To protect your company, check an application for completion and a signature before starting an interview. If something is missing, ask the applicant to finish it.
It is to your benefit that your employment applications include a line that states that falsification may result in employment ineligibility or grounds for termination. You may make it a policy to avoid interviewing people with incomplete applications as long as this is a consistent rule for all applicants.
If an applicant is reluctant to sign a consent form for a background check, but then admits to lying about something on the application or claims that they forgot about it earlier, you may have saved yourself the cost of a background check. Think very carefully about whether or not this person is someone you want to hire. People who come clean only after they think they may get caught are holding a red flag.
It's inevitable — you'll extend a job offer to someone based on the contingency of a background check and run into a conflict. A job that he held for three out of the past five years is not listed on the application. The degree is an associate's degree from a two-year community college and not a bachelor's degree from a university. When this happens, tell him that you have decided to pursue other candidates.
