Why you should never take anyone at face value.
People lie. It’s a sad fact, and for those responsible for hiring, it’s this knowledge that can help you prevent the costly results of a bad hire. But how do you know when someone is not telling the truth? Although you may consider yourself a keen judge of character, we all can be duped, especially if the candidate is an apt un-truth teller.
Think about some of the most infamous criminals of our time—many of them appeared to be upstanding, honest members of society (John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy, for example). It wasn’t until their dastardly crimes were discovered that their true character was revealed. Sometimes people are so good at deception that even their families and those closest to them have no idea who they truly are.
And that’s where we come in. As an experienced, industry leader in background checks, it’s our job to dig up the dirt, finding out what, if any, skeletons exist in your candidate’s closet before you are faced with a hiring mistake. That being said, even we are surprised once in a while by what we find when running background checks for our clients. Take a look at some of the most shocking finds.
1. Brilliant, qualified and well-presented on the outside
After the standard searches on name, contact information and references, this job applicant looked amazing on paper and in person. He proceeded to ace the interview and get an immediate offer! The hasty client made the offer without waiting for the results of the candidate’s email screening. Luckily the candidate turned it down, because the screening revealed a particularly twisted personal lifestyle involving kinky behavior that included the solicitation of companions through email.
2. Just the truth and nothing but
As part of most job application processes, candidates are asked if they’ve ever used drugs. This applicant responded with a no and then moved on to the next stage of the hiring process. What he neglected to reveal was that although he never actually did drugs, he put himself through college by dealing heroin on campus. Hmmmm.
3. Whose resume is it anyway
When a technical company ran a background check on a candidate that had a stellar resume, they assumed it was just another standardized check that is a part of their hiring process. But the screening revealed that the candidate’s resume was not accurate—it did not match anything in his background
check including education, certifications and former employment.
He copied the resume of another person who was already employed at the company he was applying to! Not just a word or two, but the entire document. All he did was change the name and contact information.
4. Hidden harasser
When a manager at this company began to receive complaints from customers about his employee, he asked upper management to run a background check on the person because something just didn’t seem right. Assured by his boss that a background check was already run (by the boss himself), the manager decided to run a screening on his own. He discovered that the employee was previously fired because of accusations of harassment and served jail time for domestic abuse. Remember this one when you need a background check because not all are created equal and unless you enlist the services of an experienced firm, you could end up with a winner like this guy.
5. Two skeletons in his closet
This one’s a bit scary! The owner of a marketing business hired numerous employees who would go into stores and demo products. One candidate, a gentleman in his 50’s, was hired almost immediately (and without a background check) because he was extremely smart, friendly and connected well with everyone in the company. He had several college degrees, was well-spoken and knowledgeable.
Everything went great for almost a year until he was promoted to be a trainer and brought into the company headquarters. Soon after, he began to get into altercations with other team members and several products went missing that he was set to demo. When things continued to worsen, the owners decided to run a background check, thinking maybe he had a history of theft in his past. The results did reveal unscrupulous behavior—but more horrible than they could have ever imagined: he gunned down both his parents with a shot gun and served 20+ years for murder.
These stories are just a few of thousands of cases that illustrate the necessity of background checks in your hiring process. Our company has extensive experience and provides the most comprehensive screenings in the industry. Give us a call to discuss our various services and plans.