An eye-catching resume is a must-have in the job-hunting process. This allows a potential employer to get a stellar impression of your experiences, skills, and qualifications. The highly competitive employment market favors applicants with resumes that stand out. This is packed with past education and work experiences to catch the eye of the hiring manager. Unfortunately, some candidates might exaggerate their competencies.
This makes employers undertake verification to ascertain the legitimacy of educational papers, certifications, and licenses listed in the applicants’ resumes. Verification of educational documents is part of the pre-employment background check on applicants when making new hires. The background check allows the employer to get a better picture of candidates before hiring. This offers insights into potential candidates to allow making informed decisions.
Understanding education document verification
This process involves confirming the nature of the degree, date of completion, and honors received by job applicants. Employers usually hire a professional background screening agency to undertake the process. The agency usually has a database of legitimate higher institutions of learning to allow verifying the academic documents of applicants. The agency usually has knowledge of popular diploma mills to easily identify degrees from such agencies during the education document verification process.
Employers usually hire companies offering educational document verification services to verify professional certifications and licenses. This ensures that applicants claim to have are from genuine higher institutions of learning. The process allows weeding out those with fake documents or those that meet the stipulated minimum standards for the position.
What to submit for education verification
Every employer has particular requirements for education verification. The most obvious requirement for employees is details about education background with relevant certifications. This depends on the role you are applying for. Some information that the company might request for security background check include:
- Birthday
- Full name
- Any known aliases
- Criminal record check
- Driver’s license number
- Social security number
- Current and past addresses
The information requirements for education verification are quite different from those required for a security check. The information necessary for education document verification might include:
- Diploma
- Transcripts
- Dates and degree name
- List of certifications and licensing
- Name and address of the high school
- Name and address of the last school attended
- Name and address of colleges or universities attended
You have to be aware of the required information required to provide for the verification process. This requires reading the consent form carefully before signing. Always offer correct information during the time of consent to speed up the verification process.
Understanding background screening regulations
It is important to understand that third-party background screening agencies are regulated by laws. These include guidelines such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Fair Credit Reporting Act. It is mandatory for an employer to notify candidates when planning to undertake a background check. This requires a notice explaining the purpose of the results from the screening including hiring, retention, or promotion.
You have to sign a consent form for the company to go ahead with performing the background check. You can sign the consent form in hard copy or online. Before you send an application, always be ready for a verification process. Results from the check are essential for the company to make hiring decisions. These results help the employer from taking on people with questionable backgrounds or without appropriate credentials.
A word against diploma mills
These are agencies online that promise to issue degrees without spending time studying. This seems very convenient for students looking forward to juicing up their resumes. Diploma mills promise all kinds of degrees and diplomas from the best universities at a fee. The agencies hoodwink people into believing that these degrees give credit for life experiences. Keep in mind that such a degree doesn’t require submission of a thesis for evaluation and has no study history. This makes it impossible to authenticate your degree.
Regardless of how convincing the website might look or how official-looking the degrees might look, academic verification will obviously unearth the real nature of such a degree. It is always very important to submit documents that were officially issued to you from a credible institution. Such documents are easy to be verified regardless of whether you submit them. Additionally, having credible papers from an authentic organization increases the chances of getting considered for the position.
Some tips to increase chances of getting hired
- Arrive earlier for the interview
- Apply to positions where you have experience
- Don’t ask for higher pay when you lack experience
- Better apply to a junior position if you lack experience
- Dress professionally for the face-to-face interview
Conclusion
Background screening is very important for employers. The process might require a criminal background check and education documents verification. Employers usually hire third-party background screening companies with a database of authentic education institutions. This makes it easy to verify the authenticity of academic documents submitted by applicants.
