It would be great if there were a foolproof way to identify “self-graduators” just by looking at someone or their resume.  Unfortunately, that is not possible.  A “self-graduator” is a person who presents himself or herself as having degrees or certificates that he or she has not earned.  In other words, they have “graduated” themselves from a school without actually graduating.  They also have a tendency to be very creative with the schools they choose as their alumnus.

Many times “self-graduators” choose Ivy League or prestigious schools as a ploy used to throw potential employers off.  They think that employers will not question a high level of education or a prestigious school on a resume.  Sadly enough, some employers won’t question a resume, especially if the job candidate interviews well and has some verifiable references from past employers.

Many employers will not question the education if the applicant has verifiable employment references.  These employers assume the job candidate must have the credentials listed on the resume to have worked in the previous positions.  These employers overlook the fact that maybe no one ever verified the educational background of the candidate.  Therefore, this type of job seeker may continue to advance in his or her career as a result of lying on resumes and job applications.

One of the best ways to identify a “self-graduator” is to conduct a pre-employment background screen on all job applicants, regardless of the position a company is recruiting for.  An employment screening firm has the resources and experience to reveal “self-graduators”.

Infamous self-graduators

Resume padding is a very common practice.  Here are some examples of infamous “self-graduators”:

1. George O’Leary, ex Notre-Dame football coach

In 2001, O’Leary divulged his lies about his academic and athletic backgrounds.  Mr. O’Leary claimed a master’s degree in education from New York University.  He also claimed to have played college football and earned three letters.  Mr. O’Leary was a student at NYU, but did not earn a degree.  He did play football but he never earned a letter, let alone play in a game.

1. Marilee Jones, admissions dean for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Jones fudged her credentials, claiming to be a scientist with degrees in biology from Rennselaar Polytechnic Institute and the Albany Medical College.  She also claimed to have a doctorate degree.  In a statement Jones said, “I did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since.”

These are somewhat docile examples of employees who practice resume padding.  Imagine hiring an applicant with a bogus medical degree without proper verification.  The consequences for that type of dishonesty can be devastating to a business and to patients.

The consequences of hiring a self-graduator

When an employer hires a person at face value, they are not practicing due diligence.  In business “due diligence” is the effort made by an employer to avoid harm to employees and associates.  An employer has the responsibility of due diligence for its employees.

Among the consequences are lawsuits involving harm due to negligent hiring and costs associated with replacing employees who “self-graduate”.

How to avoid a self- graduator

Employers should not hire a candidate based on just a resume and a good job interview.  The information on a resume or job application needs to be verified prior to making a job offer.  At the very least, an employer should only make a job offer pending verification of the information the job applicant has supplied on his or her resume and application.  Due to the limitations of a human resource department or a small business owner, this is best left to a professional employment-screening firm.

What is a fake diploma?

Fake diplomas come from “diploma mills”. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines a diploma mill as, “An institution of higher education operating without supervision of a state or professional agency and granting diplomas which are either fraudulent or, because of the lack of proper standards, worthless.”

Identifying a fake diploma

The reality is that 43% of job applicants lie on their resume′ in one form or another. One of the biggest lies on a resume or job application is a fake education. This can be presented by false claims of graduating from a school by supplying fake diplomas from diploma mills. Regardless of the how the fake education is presented, it is fraudulent and should be of great concern to employers.

The best way to stop this type of unethical behavior by applicants is to conduct an employment background screening prior to hire. Hiring a pre-employment firm such as Accu-Screen.com. will help uncover and identify fake degrees and bogus claims of an education. Accu-Screen.com has the resources, experience and skills to verify legitimate schools versus diploma mill degrees.

The market for fake diplomas

Employers need to be aware that the market for fake diplomas is very lucrative and very easy to set up and get away with. Through the ease of the Internet, diploma mills and “phony” diploma companies can provide low cost, good quality diplomas. Even if the government steps in to stop them, they are up and running on the Internet the very next day. Unethical job applicants are more than happy to take full advantage of the ease of obtaining a diploma through a diploma mill or a “novelty diploma” company. These companies make it very easy to get a fake education and diploma for a relatively low price. Some fake “schools” and novelty companies can provide bogus transcripts for an extra fee.

Why employees use fake diplomas

Employees use fake degrees because it is easy and the job market can be very competitive. Even a position does not require a degree, a fake degree will be used to “get a leg up” on the competition.

The consequences of hiring fake graduates

The consequences that can arise out of hiring candidates with fake degrees are financial and physical damages. Employees who receive their degrees from diploma mills are not properly trained. They are more likely to make mistakes on the job that can result in a lawsuit or financial loss for a business. This is in addition to physical harm they can cause fellow employees and the public.

Making sure you avoid the “diploma mill” graduates

What it comes down to is that lazy and lying job applicants will use diploma mills to “earn” their degree. Employers can’t keep job applicants from buying their education, but they can take action to avoid hiring them. By conducting a professional background screening, including an educational records search, many inconsistencies can be discovered and problem employees averted.

Kevin Connell, AccuScreen CEO and proponent of employer hiring rights, will unravel misleading quotes in a recent Associated Press article and clarify employers’ hiring rights in regard to pre-employment background checks.

TAMPA FL / August 23 2010 — Alarmed by the widely published Associated Press article from August 11th with the headline, “Some Job-Screening Tactics Challenged as Illegal,” AccuScreen has mounted a public response to counter statements that company leaders believe could misinform employers about their hiring rights.

In a webinar to be held Wednesday August 25 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST, Connell will unravel misleading facts in the article and explain employers’ hiring rights in regard to conducting a criminal background check and verifying the truthfulness of an applicant’s resume or job application.

Connell, the CEO of employment screening services company AccuScreen and outspoken proponent of employer hiring rights, believes the article is misleading and may have the effect of needlessly scaring employers about taking necessary steps to protect their companies.

“The article says that ‘companies using criminal records or bad credit reports to screen out job applicants might run afoul of anti-discrimination laws as the government steps up scrutiny of hiring policies that can hurt blacks and Hispanics’ — that is just ridiculous,” said Connell. “Employers have the right to ensure that they are hiring employees that will not jeopardize their company.”

The one-hour webinar, “Employee Screening Rights: 3 Must-Know Rules to Avoid the Wrath of the EEOC”, hosted by Connell, will explain:

· Employer’s rights in regard to running background checks on employees or job candidates
· The top 7 resume lies and how to spot them

Those interested in attending the free webinar can register online at: Webinar

“Employers cannot be made afraid to run a background check on applicants in order to protect their company, their employees, and their customers. In fact, laws have been passed making it mandatory to do criminal background checks in such industries as healthcare and daycare,” Connell said.

Those who cannot attend the webinar are encouraged to register for the event; a complimentary white paper, ‘Screening Job Applicants Without Discriminating,’ will be made available to all webinar registrants.

According to Connell, background checks can actually protect employers from being sued if an employee states he or she was fired or not hired because of illegal discrimination. “If the selection procedure has a disparate impact based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, can the employer show that the selection procedure is job-related and consistent with business necessity? An employer can meet this standard by showing that it is necessary to the safe and efficient performance of the job.” These guidelines, says Connell, comes directly from the EEOC.

Kevin Connell is available for comment on this subject. For interview inquiries, contact Sue Marriott at 1.800.689.2228 ext # 1100 or SueMarriott@AccuScreen.com.

About Kevin Connell:
Kevin G. Connell is a renowned professional background screening expert. He is recognized for his expertise on employment background screening, criminal record checks, workplace fraud, embezzlement, employee theft, resume fraud and negligent hiring in the workplace. Connell has spoken at numerous business, security & human resources conferences, including twice providing testimony before the Florida Supreme Court. He is widely quoted, has had several articles published in magazines, has been featured on television, including ABC-TV “Money Matters,” the Fox News Channel and has been interviewed on more than 126 live talk radio programs. Connell is a former founding Director of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS); he served on the board from 2003-2005.

About AccuScreen:
Since 1994, AccuScreen.com has been an industry pioneer, leader and expert in employment background screening, specializing in criminal background checks. Its reports are delivered to companies across the world in 2-72 hours.

Media Contact
Sue Marriott
SueMarriott@AccuScreen.com
410 S. Ware Blvd. Suite 607
Tampa, FL 33619
1.800.689.2228 ext # 1100

This story was taken from KTLA – LA News as a great representation of why Employee Background Screening is so vital. Every employer needs do their do diligence and make sure they know who they are hiring or they could fall victim just like the employer below.

LOS ANGELES — An Inglewood woman is accused of embezzling $1.6 million dollars from her boss to fund a lavish lifestyle. Detectives say Holly Daunielle Martin-Campbell, 37, stole the money while working as an administrative secretary at Blue Daisy Cement Products near Gardena.

Campbell used the money to buy a home in a gated community next to Hollywood Park, purchase a $22,000 Ducati motorcycle for her husband and a BMW sport utility vehicle for herself, eat at expensive restaurants and attend sporting events and concerts, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s detective Christopher Derry.

Martin-Campbell was arrested Tuesday on felony charges of grand theft and forgery.
Her boss says he had no idea she had served a 16-month prison sentence in the late 1990s for credit card fraud when he hired her in 2002. Martin-Campbell was in charge of accounts receivable. Her job was to process the incoming checks from customers, Detective Derry said.

An investigation found that she began depositing checks into her own bank account in 2004. The checks, which were for a few thousand dollars up to $21,000, were made out to Blue Daisy, but Bank of America still accepted the checks, Derry said. She would then delete the transactions.

The scam was uncovered in late 2008 when a Blue Daisy accountant realized the company’s profits did not match the amount of product they were selling. The company’s owner began scrutinizing the business transactions and found that Martin-Campbell had been depositing the checks into her own account.

Martin-Campbell is being held on $1.5 million dollars bail. She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Martin-Campbell’s parents have paid $300,000 toward restitution but $1.3 million is still owed to Blue Daisy.

Although many employers have a solid policy regarding pre-hire background checks, most have no policy in place that dictates a regular schedule of post-hire, or ongoing, background checks? Why is this issue? Well, from an employee standpoint, you’re certainly not going to tell your employer that you’ve committed a crime that might get you fired… if you can avoid it. But, from an employer standpoint, this is need-to-know information.

Unfortunately, far too often, individuals who have worked for one employer for any length of time commit crimes that may make them ineligible for employment with their current employer. Again, an employer can’t rely on the honesty and self-reporting of its employees to police the off-duty behavior of their workforce. Yet, in many cases, performing frequent background checks can be cost prohibitive.

To combat the problem, one large employer, whose employees have direct contact with children, sends out annual notices that employees must report any offenses that may render them ineligible to perform their employment duties as assigned. Certainly, this is one way to get the word out. But, honestly, does this employer, or any other workplace that adopts the annual notice technique, really expect their employees to call a confidential number to report their criminal behavior since they were hired? Not likely.

In reality, the annual notice sent out by the above employer is a cover-your-rear effort to avoid a lawsuit in case any of their employees is found to have violated the sacred bond of good moral conduct when working with children. The employer sends out a letter and can then say “hey, we asked!” The problem is – well, one of the problems – that such a weak effort of protecting their underage charges against a less-than-moral workforce is not likely to hold up in court.

It is the onus of the employer, not the employee, to ensure that their employees meet the standard of morality that is required of the job, whether that job involved working with children, money, or confidential information. When something goes wrong, as it inevitably will, it is not the employee that ends up on the financial hot seat; it’s the employer.

Sure, the employee will have to pay the piper in a criminal court, but it is the employer who harbored said criminal employee that will lose revenue and reputation because of their own lack of conscientious monitoring of their own staff. After all, if you are a parent whose child has been violated by a predator, do you sue the employee who has no money or the employer who has the financial resources to pay up?

Finding oneself in such a situation is not only embarrassing and expensive; it can completely ruin your company’s reputation. Although there is no way to immediately ensure that you catch an employee’s indiscretion as soon as it happens, you can protect yourself by developing a company policy that requires regular background checks on your employees. Companies that have initiated background checks on an annual, bi-annual, or even every five year basis have had some success in weeding out the bad apples that may cause them serious legal issues down the road.

Question by Louie: What does it mean to “successfully pass a background check”?
A lot of employers require the candidate “to successsfully pass a criminal background check”, however, they are never specific as to what this constitutes. Of course, if you just did 10 years for rape or 20 years for murder, you’re not going to pass. Also, any prior felony conviction will usually be adequate to disqualify you.

But what about misdemeanors or ordinance offenses? Or felony arrests that did not result in conviction? Is it just really company policy when it comes to these less serious matters?
Yes, glock I understand those are the things that show up, but what needs to be on there to “fail”? It probably depends on the company and the position???

Best answer:

Answer by glock310
i have seen things such as probation for previous arrests and crimes and also such things as speeding or any traffic violations and also credit history as well and previous employment

Give your answer to this question below!