Creativity Counts (Okay - Not Always!)

I should not have to repeat this message every six months.  But we are being tested . . . . . people are being more creative.  Two stories need to be told - one from the news (politics); one about one of our candidates.  

We have simple needs - we want the truth from you.  'We' can be the general public.  'We' are certainly our clients.  

Politics - We Seek The Truth

Let's start with the general public and . . . . . . politics.  It seems like we are never without an election in front of us.  Primary season does not seem to end.  On August 14th, during what seems to be a never-ending campaign year, a Florida House Candidate suspended her campaign.  She was caught in a lie - about her education.  See Melissa Howard - 'Suspends her Campaign'.  She not only lied about having her degree, but she had artwork . . . . . a falsified diploma.  This took effort.  It was beautiful looking - framed to go on a wall in an office.  Multiple issues with it - as pointed out by the school.  It took diligent investigative reporters to uncover the truth.  

Clients - We Guarantee The Truth

Now to a very recent candidate story.  The search is for a Director of Talent Management.  A bachelor's degree is preferred, but appropriate and substantial related/additional experience will suffice based on the industry.  The candidate stated he had a degree.  He signed a release form allowing us to verify it (after we explained our process).  We tried and tried to verify it.

Education verification is usually an easy process. Most of the schools outsource their records for this process to the National Student Clearing House.  We get information from the candidate, go onto a secure website, enter the data - and a few seconds later, we have the information.  In the above-referenced case, we could not get it to verify.  

We assume the first issue is ours.  We called the candidate who stated that he would follow-up.  He called back . . . . . the school had some of his records mixed-up (name, SSN, birthdate).  This is a large school - it is possible.  We worked with him and the school.  No progress.  We talked directly with the Registrar - no progress.  

THEN - we received a forwarded e-mail from the candidate.  In theory, the e-mail came to him from the Registrar (the person we had worked with).  It included a PDF of his transcript.  We forwarded back to the Registrar to verify its accuracy.  The conclusion - the school is pursuing legal action (a cease and desist to start).  I called the candidate to let him know that he was no longer a candidate.  It was a short conversation.  

NOTE - we assume his current employer thinks he has a degree - it is on his resume AND his LinkedIn profile.  It has not (yet?) been removed.  (When we do catch someone in a lie, they usually tell us that their current employer or previous search firm did NOT verify their education.  This is simply not acceptable!)  

One more side note - I googled transcript images from this school.  A beautiful transcript is available for all to see.  It was what was used . . . . . and only the school itself could tell us that some of the data was wrong/out-of-date (stamps, signatures, etc.).  

Tell Us The Truth!

It is a simple request.