Issue 1 - 1st Quarter 1997
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Finally, a dream come true! This newsletter began as a goal eight years ago when I founded Myers Research & Consulting. As the years rolled by, it seemed to be more of a futuristic goal; within the last year, however, I've been fortunate enough to acquire a wonderful staff whose knowledge, expertise, creativity and commitment have made this dream a reality.
For those of you who might not be familiar with us, please allow me to introduce ourselves. Myers Research & Consulting offers human-resources support to a wide variety of employers. Our specialty is providing pre-employment profiles on job candidates for our clients. Our staff is comprised of individuals who come from an assortment of human-resources and management-related backgrounds, and our main focus is to obtain valuable and reliable information for hiring within the guidelines of employment law.
With that in mind, this newsletter is intended to share many things that we hope will aid you in your day-to-day hiring activities. It will target a variety of employment-related topics, useful tidbits of information, helpful tips, some of our own experiences and, hopefully, lend a good laugh or two. In short, we hope to keep you up to date and entertained all in one informative package.
Look for our newsletters to arrive quarterly. We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have for future issues. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy...dreams really do come true!
Did you know...
That the most expedient and effective method for validating past military service is to request the applicant's discharge document, form DD214?
While there are a magnitude of honest and qualified applicants out there, there are also a number of individuals whose integrity is well worth scrutinizing. We couldn't let this opportunity pass without sharing with you some of the highlights of those individuals we have profiled for our clients. The 'Hall of Shame' will appear each quarter and will feature one of our very own infamous applicants. We'll give you their version and then we'll fill you in on the truth. We won't provide actual names, but the circumstances are very real.
Our first inductee is a woman we'll call 'Linda.' On her application, she clearly indicated that she had never been convicted of a felony. Lo and behold, we found that Linda has a lengthy criminal history extending back to 1978 with her most recent conviction occurring in 1993. Among other things, she has been convicted of theft, grand theft, receiving stolen property, drug trafficking and check forgery. Conveniently for her, many of her cases overlapped and she was able to serve her sentences concurrently. She even spent time in a federal jail for forging a U.S. Treasury check. After she was ordered to pay restitution and to receive drug aftercare, she violated her probation. Further, she was still on probation when she applied for a position with our client!
Linda may have chosen to deny her criminal past, but fortunately for the employer, she wasn't taken at her word. Maybe there is justice after all.
Helpful Hint...
Decisions require information; sound decisions require comprehensive information. In hiring, making sure the job candidate has completed the application in full is vital to every step of the pre-employment process. It is difficult to substantiate an individual's qualifications without those details. Although it may sound elementary, taking moments to scan the application not only aids in the decision-making process, but can save an employer time, money, and potential hiring risk.
Re-Inventing Yourself on Paper
Rising statistics have long indicated a trend towards increased misrepresentation in the job market. With tougher hiring practices, widespread computer technology, and the reported decline in personal ethics, it's hardly surprising that job candidates resort to deception to get a job. What is surprising, though, is how widespread the problem has become and how many seemingly qualified candidates try to defraud and fool prospective employers.
There are many tools a job candidate can obtain and use fraudulently, one of which is a reference letter. Reference letters used to be a very common and accepted means of carrying employment credentials throughout one's career. Although many of them are credible, there are exceptions. Forging or altering a reference letter isn't that difficult a task if you have access to a typewriter or a computer.
There are various methods of alteration/forgery. Sometimes, the dates are simply altered to cover a questionable time period which may include incarceration or some other 'excursion' the applicant does not want disclosed to the potential employer.
In other cases, the body of a genuine letter from an applicant's past supervisor, perhaps even a discharge/termination letter, is simply rewritten to create what would appear to be a glowing reference letter. The letter bears the supervisor's authentic signature although the contents have been drastically altered.
Additionally, applicants will go to the extreme of forging reference letters in their entirety. In some cases, nothing may be authentic (including names, signatures, dates or even the company's letterhead).
How do employers validate a reference letter? First, never assume its authenticity. Along with substantiating information on a candidate's resume and application, validating all applicant-provided materials is crucial in the pre-employment process. It's very important that not only the author be verified, but the contents of the letter as well.
Although reference letters will continue to be a valued resource in our changing job market, the hiring arena has become a much more challenging field. Continued awareness by employers is imperative. A little time and ingenuity can save an employer from hiring dishonest and/or unqualified employees.