Importance of Background Checks
In recent times, many of the cases have been seen where job applicants made fraudulent misrepresentations in their resume to get job opportunities. One of the lead cases is Yahoo where the CEO got the opportunities by falsification in resume. This story provides many lessons and the importance of checking the background of the applicant before providing them a job. Such due diligence is important for many of the reasons. Firstly, it brings the serious risk of liability to the employer. An employer who fails to make a proper investigation regarding the background of the applicant may held liable for negligence if such an applicant finds to be involved in illegal activities or misconduct. Further, such an investigation is also important for providing for customers and employees. In conjunction with this, the verification of the information mentioned under the resume is also important to motivate honesty and integrity in the application process (Hiresafe.com, 2019). The given story provides that falsification in a resume may defeat the goodwill of corporation and employee may lose his/her job as the CEO of Yahoo did.
When an executive provides inaccurate information in the resume then it affects many of the stakeholders of the company. For instance, business owners may affect in a manner that they face loss due to the poor decision-making skills of a less qualified employee. Further, when such news comes into the knowledge of public it defeats goodwill of the corporation that adversely affects share values. In this manner, another stakeholder i.e. shareholder faces loss. Further society is an important stakeholder of the company but such issues lead to a negative impact on the same as it increases unemployment among qualified people.
The statistics believe that a 53% resume contains false information (Orr & Orr, 2012). This is a surprising data as it represents more than half. This is a world full of technology where any records can be checked and verified. Despite this more than half of the people using such tactics to get a job, which is truly shocking. Further, the number is also shocking for another reason that is business/professional ethics. This is the 21st century where every profession develops ethics in its members yet such activities are happening which can make a reasonable person surprises.
At a personal and professional level, many things can be learned from yahoo stories. On a personal level, this is to state that slightly changes can be done in the resume but a whole fake claim cannot be made. On the different side, this is to state that at first instance it may look attractive to get a job by easily modifying information of a resume. Nevertheless, one may have to lose his/her job in a situation where the truth reveals. In the given story, the CEO had to lose his job after a short period of joining and it led to serious consequences on his career (Lake, 2015). Hence, a job applicant must follow professional ethics in job applications.
References
Hiresafe.com. (2019). Why are background checks important? Retrieved from: https://www.hiresafe.com/client-support/background-check-faq/why-are-background-checks-important/
Lake, R. (2015). Beware: 23 Resume Falsification Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.creditdonkey.com/resume-falsification-statistics.html
Orr, L., M. & Orr, D., J. (2012). When to Hire—or Not Hire—a Consultant: Getting Your Money’s Worth from Consulting Relationships. US: Apress.