Did you know that one third of candidates falsify their employment history?

Recruiting is an expensive and time consuming process. If you hire the wrong person, you'll have to go through the process again until you find the right candidate. It can cost over £5,000 to recruit into a vacant position.

We know that people aren't completely honest, all of the time. If you're shocked that three in ten people are willing to lie about their employment history, you'll probably be more surprised to learn that almost a quarter of candidates have used aliases or alternative names on job applications! Perhaps even worse, 10% of candidates fabricate credential qualifications and the same amount exaggerates their educational experience.

So how do you find out who is telling the truth?

It's not as simple as inviting someone to an interview and questioning them; if someone is bold enough to lie on their CV, the chances are they've practised how to repeat the lie convincingly.

It requires a lot of research to perform employment screening of potential candidates. If you're recruiting for a vacant position, it would be fair to assume that people have to work harder to take up the flack of an empty post. Getting someone within the organisation to try to research each candidate is not the most effective way to do so. Not every business has the luxury of a large HR department, and those that do have enough work already without being burdened with the task of conducting background checks on every applicant.

There are companies that offer a background check service, who already have access to relevant sources of information and know the best places to research. You could check candidates' identity, such as their address or date of birth and even their credit status. You could also validate the information given, look into whether they have omitted information about a criminal past, or check they have the legal right to work in the country.

You need to make sure that the person you're considering employing really is who they claim to be. It's hard to build a solid team of employees if the trust isn't there - a background check will flag up who you can and who you can't trust.