Recently, I am in the process of hiring someone in my team. As I move along with that process, I keep on encountering various fake resume. Times are tough, maybe that’s why genuine people are becoming desperate to compete with these fake profiles, and they are also including false information on their resume. While I might not have a complete solution to avoid these fake people, I have few tips through which you can prescreen these candidates before taking their interview, and save your precious time.
Avoid the perfect match: Have you ever seen a resume which exactly replicates your job requirements as it is posted on the job portal? I have seen many resumes, which contains exactly same wordings as they appear in the job requirements, and that too in the same order. This should give you a strong signal that this person has directly copy pasted the job description in his job profile. So, don’t even bother interviewing these kind of people.
Avoid out of context keywords: If you get a resume that has all the keywords that you are looking for, but if they are out of context, then chances are….. it has some falsified information. For example: Java, C#, Windows 7, Linux, etc. Someone who has the knowledge of these keywords would easily classify these keywords properly, and they won’t seem out of context. In our example, they would say…… they know programming languages like Java and C#, while they have administrative knowledge of OS like Linux and Windows 7.
Avoid resume without contact information: If you received a good resume which doesn’t have any other contact information other than just an e-mail ID, chances are….this might be a resume of a fake person or a person with fake information. I would not even consider a resume that doesn’t have a contact phone number and a proper residential information.
Google their names: This practice has helped me a lot. Before I decide to give a call to someone, I always go online and Google their name. In today’s day and age, you can find out lot of information about your job applicant by just googling their name. One time, I was going to call someone for an in-person interview and I happened to google his name, and I found out that he was convicted for two different theft charges from his past two jobs. Thus, I highly recommend you to check their online footprints before you call them for an interview.
Call them before an official interview: Technology has made everything possible in past few years. If you work for a company, which has their own video conferencing tools then please make use of those tools before you invite someone for an in-person interview. If you are working on a budget, then use free conferencing tools like Skype or Meebo for a prescreening interview. You should always prescreen out-of-town people using these tools, so that you can save some valuable hiring money, which you might otherwise spend on scheduling their travel arrangements.
I hope these tips will help you to catch any fake resume during your hiring process, and hence avoiding any hiring mistakes. If you have any other ideas through which you can improve your hiring process then please feel free to share it with me through your comments. Thanks. – Bhavin Gandhi
Bhavin Gandhi's Blog 
Alina
August 16, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Hi Bhavin,
Thanks for sharing your tips, some very useful advice here, since there are so many fake profiles online. Last week we announced that online recruitment platform Firefish software is integrating miiCard identity verification to enable candidates to prove their real ID purely online – http://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/miicard-and-firefish-to-deliver-read-id-verification-for-job-candidates-purely-onl
Do you think the recruitment industry would benefit from using miiCard online ID verification process?? As a candidate, do you think it could improve their chances in securing a job by proving their social profiles belong to them so that social screening is accurate?
I would love to get your feedback on this.
Thanks
Alina
Bhavin Gandhi
August 16, 2012 at 9:36 AM
@Alina:
I am sure recruitment industry will benefit from using miiCard, but I am very skeptic on how it can help before the interview process. By implementing these requirements of providing various IDs, such as passport & driver’s licence, these recruiters will be alienating large number of qualified candidates by including another hurdle in the application process.
If this process is used after the first interview for the background check, then it might work. But in that case, there are already various other companies who provide similar services as ID verification, background checks, etc.
From a candidate’s perspective, this might be helpful for them to show that they are legitimate candidate. But lot of candidates will hesitate to provide their personal information before even getting an interview call.
Anyways, I liked your idea. And wish you good luck for your company’s future. – Thanks, Bhavin Gandhi
Elaine Noble, MBA
March 7, 2013 at 11:03 AM
As someone who is actively looking for work here in the Bay Area, I don’t have a permanent home and am staying with friends temporarily and change residences often. I do have a PO Box however. Would it be helpful to put down the PO Box address instead of just Oakland, CA or does that make it look like I still live out of state? Thanks!
Bhavin Gandhi
March 7, 2013 at 12:39 PM
@Elaine: I wouldn’t put PO Box number on my contact information. That looks really fishy to a hiring manager. I would rather put my friend’s address in the Bay Area. Of course, you need to put your current phone number and the e-mail address. Chances are…..you are not going to be contacted through mails, that’s old school. People will reach you on your phone number or on your e-mail, if they are interested in your profile.
And by putting actual physical address of your friend in the Bay Area, you are showing to your perspective employer that you are local and easily available for in-person interview. And hence, you will have more probability to get an interview call, since some of the employers only hire local employees due to budget limit on the relocation expenses.
In short, have a physical address of your friend on your resume (not the PO Box), and have the current phone and e-mail information with that. This should help you in getting interview calls from local companies.
I hope, this answers your question. Let me know, if I can help you with anything else.
Thanks – Bhavin Gandhi