The new interview, part 1: I got 99 problems but a proxy ain’t one

Imagine this scenario: You task a group of managers to create requirements for a new job opening. Once that’s done, your company spends time and effort posting on as many job-board websites and forums as possible. You even tap into your social media manager to reach out through Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. And for good measure, you work with a recruiter that can help funnel in qualified leads.  

 

Before you know it, the flood gates open, and hundreds of applications pour in for this highly sought-after position. After several rounds of interviews and technical screening, you narrow it down to just a few choices. And then finally, it happens. You hire your dream candidate. On her first day, she walks into the office at 8:30 a.m. sharp, ready for business. Only, it’s not her. In fact, she doesn’t even look remotely like the person you thought you hired.

 

That’s when it hits you: You’ve been scammed. 

 

 

 

Not everyone is who they claim to be.Not everyone is who they claim to be.

Resume falsification isn’t a new problem. Back in 2014, a study revealed that more than half of all employers have caught lies on resumes. You might think that highly technical positions requiring a real-time exhibition of skill would nip the problem in the bud. Unfortunately, that’s no longer true.

 

During video interviews, candidates may appear to be answering your questions, but actually, there’s someone else in the room feeding them information. In fact, entire businesses flourish perpetuating this fraud. Typically, they’ll orchestrate as much of the scam as they can through a third-party recruiting company rather than directly through the employer, according to staffing expert Jim Holcomb. This makes it a little easier to see the scam through to the end.

 

As a result, the recruiter’s reputation takes a hit, and more importantly, the employer is left with an unfilled job. By every measure, it’s a lose-lose.

 

 

“We’re thrilled to announce a more intelligent screening process.”

 

Technical staffing agencies such as prosourceIT pride themselves on the ability to whittle down a significant portion of the talent pool to just a few qualified candidates. When something like the above scenario happens, that pride is crushed in an instant – not only because it reflects poorly on us, but because we understand that these occurrences are equal parts shocking and disheartening for employers. After all, we understand as well as anyone just how difficult it can be to find true talent. It’s what we do day in and day out. 

 

And now, we’re taking steps that will allow us to do this better than we ever have.

 

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve recently adopted a more intelligent screening process – one that focuses exclusively on vetting the authenticity and technical experience of candidates vying for an IT vacancy at your company. In addition to providing the best leads for our clients, we can now guarantee that none of them will have slithered their way into your ranks through fake resumes, forged documents and proxy interviews.

 

Of course, catching fraudsters isn’t all that our smart new interview platform is good for. But we’ll save those details for part two of this post, coming soon to our Insights page.