A third of employers takes CVs at face value and don’t request degree certificates from job applicants, reports new research by the Higher Education Degree Datacheck (HEDD).
The survey of 106 employers asked about their approach to verifying qualifications. Only 63% of respondents said that they request degree certificates from applicants. Of those who request certificates, 76% assume they are legitimate and don’t verify them with the issuing university and 32% accept copies rather than original documents.
HEDD is a government-backed online degree verification service, which was established by Graduate Prospects to help combat degree fraud. Director, Jayne Rowley said: “Most degree fraud goes undetected due to the lack of proper checks being made by employers, although it’s widely publicised that a third of applicants admit to lying on CVs1 and there are thousands of fake degrees in circulation due to the burgeoning number of bogus institutions.
“While many businesses, particularly when recruiting graduates, invest significantly in sophisticated application tracking, assessment centres, psychometric testing and so on, few verify qualifications as part of that process.
“Many of us want to believe that people are telling the truth, so we place our trust in references, applications and interviews. With a low perception of the frequency and risks of qualification fraud it’s easy to become complacent. But some people are unscrupulous and looking to take advantage. If someone is lying about their qualifications we have to question their overall integrity as a potential employee.
“It’s important to request original degree certificates and check them out with the university that issued them. Many certificates look legitimate yet have subjects and grades altered as well as totally fabricated universities and courses.”
HEDD also asked 568 students and graduates about degree fraud. Three quarters said they expect employers to check their qualifications and 82% would like to see verification compulsory.
Jayne added: “Graduates are used to rigorous checks by UCAS pre-university and having their academic work verified by plagiarism detection software to prevent cheating, but the same rigour isn’t in place for job applications and employment. There is a duty of care incumbent upon organisations and universities to take this seriously and ensure the interests of genuine graduates are protected, particularly given the high financial investment.”
HEDD provides an easy way for businesses to check the legitimacy of the university candidates’ claim they graduated from at www.hedd.ac.uk. Individual qualifications can be verified with 19 UK universities who have joined HEDD, and more are registering monthly. More than 700 checks are undertaken by the service weekly.