A post about a blog post about an article.

Newsflash: Fraud is big in China. Today at lunch I was told by one of my consultants that one of our clients got to the offer stage with a candidate (not one of ours) and was surprised to find out that he had created most of the companies on his resume. When they called him on it he told them that he had done so to impress them and though they should still give him a chance. The client found out during a standard reference check. Most companies do not do reference checks and even fewer go a step further and use a company like PSA (http://www.psagroup.com/) to do basic background checks or identity verifications. I recommend these steps to all of our clients and feel that in China's current business climate they should be built into every recruiting process. We provide reference checks for free to our clients as part of our service.
China is booming and salaries are climbing at such a rate that it can be very tempting for job seekers to lie on their resumes, about their qualifications, or even who they are. Take the time to make screening part of your hiring practice and you may avoid big problems later. I found this post on the China Business Services blog, it is a good site, good blog ans, I am told they are a good bunch of guys over there and very reliable. I usually do not blog about other people's posts but in this case I will make an exception. Check out the article from the CBS: CV = Check & Verify While the FT reports a suggestion that “Your CV should make your closest friend gag but not vomit”, it also points to the case of Patrick Imbardelli, the chief executive of Intercontinental Hotels Group Asia-Pacific, who just “resigned” (as they like to say) after it was discovered he had claimed false academic qualifications. The issue of false claims is a common one around the world, and China is no exception. My company is often asked to check out potential employees and business partners. There are a variety of checks that can be carried out, including: • Identity verification – many people don’t think to question this most basic issue, but in a recent investigation we found that the target had been operating under an alias, and that a previous court action had therefore been hidden. • Criminal record checks – most people are honest, but many with a criminal record would rather try to hide the fact, as it does not provide a glowing reference. This is an important due diligence box to tick. • Employment verification – it is amazing how many companies do not check out the employment history of their staff. If nobody has time in-house, the task can easily be outsourced. • Qualification verification – false qualifications are nothing new. Again these are easy to verify. • Reputational checks – while the job history may be factual, what about the achievements? It is useful to know whether the CV in question is, to follow the FT piece, a “gag” or a “vomit” job. It also useful, especially when hiring senior employees, to know about someone’s reputation among key audiences in business and government. As one of my associates in the risk management business likes to say, when people lie it generally points to a pattern of behaviour that will be repeated. If these checks are done at the outset, everyone can move on with a much higher degree of confidence. And the future CEO may not have to appear on the wrong side of the page in the FT. The same issues are true when dealing with corporate entities, as outlined in some previous posts: • More Due Diligence (and a Guide) Due Diligence = Sound Sleep How to Scupper a Scammer See news source: CV reviews lead to resignationsThe chief of Intercontinental Hotels Group’s Asia-Pacific unit announced his resignation following a review of his academic qualifications.