Integrity (Tell The Truth!)

We interview people for a living.  We don’t interview many, however.  We talk to hundreds – many of those conversations are short.  We explain why we are calling.  We explore the basics of an opportunity to see if it is appropriate for the person we called.  (When we call, we already know about our targeted candidate through our research.)  If the person is not interested, we talk about referrals – people they may know that could be appropriate. 

We talk to interested candidates multiple times before we ever meet them.  We share more information/they share more information.  The process is gradual; it is a relationship that builds with time.  Trust is established.  At some point, we request a resume – and the candidate sends it. 

Time to interview

Assuming the positive (we like the candidate – they have the right background and approach; they like the company we represent), an interview will be scheduled for us as the search firm to meet the candidate.  We already have the person’s resume . . . . . and the person we want to meet has the company description as well as the job description.  We set up a time to meet.  We take one more step prior to interviewing, however.

Education Verification 

Companies differ on the importance of a degree.  Regardless of the company’s stance and regardless of the requirements for any single position, we do verify the education the candidate has on their resume.  We have the candidate sign a legal release allowing us to check their listed education.  That’s where the trouble can begin. 

Tell Us The Truth (Integrity) 

As mentioned above, we don’t interview (face-to-face) that many candidates.  We have extensively screened the candidate(s) prior to wanting to meet them.  They know, by the time we want to meet them, what the company values.  And the company’s Values are indeed valued.  Integrity is one of the common values.  And even if it is not listed explicitly, it is a given. 

Twice in the last two weeks we lost candidates for not telling us the truth.  In one of the cases, the Master’s degree the candidate fabricated was not even required.  And in this same case, he was a candidate our client referred to us . . . . they were considering him for two other roles but wanted us to meet him as well.  This client had not yet verified their education. 

We did – and he didn’t! 

We immediately called the client.  They were horrified.  He is no longer a candidate for any role there.  While a good ending for the company (we will never know what else this candidate might have fabricated), it could have been avoided.  How?  Tell us the truth!