Learning options are plentiful these days.
Online academies. Traditional colleges and universities. High schools. Even the School of Hard Knocks can teach plenty.
While each person’s educational path looks a little different, the objective is usually the same. Education helps us reach higher and better goals—no matter what our career. Having solid academic credentials is critical for just about any job seeker.
But experts say job seekers aren’t always completely honest on their resumes. Stats range from 53 percent of job seekers stretching the truth to a massive 85 percent of employers saying they found “lies or embellishments.” Yikes.
So, verifying those educational credentials? Essential.
The good news: it’s not tough for employers to confirm their instincts with a background check. A background check looks at a number of areas and education verification tops that list. Verifying education not only helps companies hire candidates that meet their criteria, but it also helps protect employers from negligent hiring claims.
Here’s how education verification works. With a job seekers’ prior written permission, screeners use an candidate’s full name, Social Security number, plus their school’s name, city, and state to confirm all the basics. This helps check their degree, years attended, graduation date, plus any graduating honors.
Most of the time, confirming education is pretty simple. But some elements that can cause conflicts or slow down the verification process, including but not limited to, name changes and wrong graduation dates.
Something else to watch out for: diploma mills. Diploma mills usually have names that sound very academic and completely legitimate (read some of the examples here), but snagging their highest degree isn’t tough. Typically, the only requirement is an exchange of cash.
Want to land the best employees for your company? Background checks play an important role in doing that. Partnering with an experienced screener like ClearStar can make your hiring process smarter and smoother. Want to know more? Call us!
