How Much Do You Really Know About A Prospective Employee?

How much do you really find out about prospective employees in the course of an employment process? You get a CV and you do an interview. Is that enough? It is well known that CV’s are often compiled using fake information with regard to educational qualifications and previous employment history. It is also well known that most employers don’t bother to check up to see whether the information of the CV of prospective employees is truthful or not.  In fact, most employers take academic qualifications at face value. We have recently seen many instances, especially in the public service where high level appointees have had to step down and where organisations have had to pay out millions of rands in “golden handshakes” to people they appointed with dodgy credentials. In 2011, The University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) both vowed to prosecute people who use fake degrees purporting to have been issued by their institutions. There are a number of aspects concerning the background of a prospective employee which should be added to the recruitment process. For example, does the candidate have a criminal record, are the claimed qualifications true and has the previous employment history been diligently checked? What about considering a pre-employment polygraph test to determine if the person has ever been involved in fraud, corruption, embezzlement etc.