In reviewing the HRGURU newsletter I ran across a good article on finding fibs in resumes.  It gives some sound advice to follow so you are not discovering these lies on the resume after a person starts.  The 5 tips:

• Get an early read about the candidate’s visible profile. Look for a candidate’s public profile by reviewing announcements, articles and other material that often can be found easily online. You do need to gauge how much stock you’ll put into whatever you find—good or bad—because you can’t always believe what you read.
• Confirm academic credentials early.
• Gain consensus on the reference checking process.  Who is going to perform it and what information is important for you to learn.
• Seize the opportunity in the interview. The interview is a good opportunity to ask candidates about their experience and education and how, exactly, they’ve delivered the results they’ve claimed on paper.
• Background check (emphasis is mine).  This is a great time to get academic verification done also.

Too many times I have seen interviews in which the interviewer only verifies the dates, titles and responsibilities of what a candidate writes on their resume.  The interview is a great time for you to dig into the accomplishments and find out more details of how they achieved what they claim they achieved.  It’s amazing what you can learn form just a couple of straight-forward, probing questions.

I once interviewed a candidate who had amazing accomplishments listed on his resume – seemed like a great candidate.  After a couple of simple questions about how he achieved these many successes, he quickly told us that he just happened to answer the phone at the right time.  How is that for sales ability?  You could say he really didn’t sell himself.  The position required the ability to develop a brand new territory so he was ruled out at that point.

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