Fake CVs now hit retail, bank & insurance cos
Excerpts from The Economic Times, Mumbai, 04 April 2006

10-12% Of Recruits Fudge Resumes
Shelley Singh NEW DELHI

EVEN as India Inc continues its hiring spree, it is having to cope with the growing menace of smart alecks fudging their CVs. The problem is not restricted to the IT and BPO industry, which adds about 1,00,000 new staff every year, but has spread across retail, banking, insurance and other sectors. These sectors hire about 2,00,000 employees a year. According to industry estimates, 10-12% of the recruits submit fake CVs, fake reference letters, fake certificates or are simply overstating skills and experience.

The IT industry spends an average of Rs 25,000 in recruiting a candidate. The average spend on 1,00,000 recruits comes to Rs 250 crore a year. Overall, for the 2,00,000 jobs in the hot sectors, the industry spends over Rs 400 crore a year in hiring candidates, and there are quite a few bad apples among the lot. Fresh recruits to replace those who forged documents only adds to the cost. Most of the cases are among those with one-to-three years of experience.

US firm First Advantage – Asia receives 45,000 employee screening requests a month. About 35% are from the IT and BPO industries and the rest from banking, retail and insurance. The background screening business, which was non-existent till a few years ago, is now estimated to be about Rs 75-100 crore a year, thanks to large number of fake resumes.

When asked about the problem, Yogesh Bhura, MD, FAQR told ET: “Potential recruits are fudging past employment and education credentials. Usually, fakes look better than the original. Companies want us to check that the people hired have the qualifications they claim.’’ Throwing light on the issue of fake CVs, Achuthan Nair, V-P, strategic sourcing, Wipro Technologies, said: “There are certain organisations which see demand for candidates in specific sectors, and play consultants to them, often fudging their CVs to make a quick buck.’’

Seeing the boom in recruitment, over 1,500 HR vendors have sprung up across the metros in past couple of years.