By Dennis D. Estopace
SOCIAL media has been pervasive that some headhunters have been using it to mine data on their target talents.
However, what an account contains tell much about a candidate, especially for companies like First Advantage Corp. that conduct pre-employment screening.
The BusinessMirror sent questions to Matthew Glasner, South Asia Pacific managing director, to explain the Atlanta, Georgia-headquartered firm’s 2015 Employment Screening Annual Trends Report. Here are Glasner’s responses to those questions sent via electronic mail:
BusinessMirror (BM): The First Advantage 2015 Employment Screening Annual Trends Report noted there are discrepancies in candidate screening. Please explain the discrepancy rate of the Philippines.
Matthew Glasner (MG): The Philippines had evolved into an important destination for setting up businesses in the Asia-Pacific region. With a more vibrant job market, there is also a notable rise in discrepancy rates across verticals and designations, as background screening is more widely conducted. According to our report, discrepancy related to employment topped the list with 64.93 percent followed by education at 17.99 percent; database at 15.92 percent; criminal at 0.66 percent; and financial related at 0.49 percent.
BM: How do you explain the total discrepancy rate of the Philippines in relation to its neighbors, e.g., 12.8 percent for the Philippines vis-à-vis 13.5 percent for Malaysia.
MG: The Philippines has the highest percentage of employment discrepancies in the Asia-Pacific region. As more and more multinational companies consider the Philippines as their preferred location for setting up business in Asia-Pacific region, the work force gets more options to make career choices. As competition to get the most lucrative roles increase, some candidates turn to misrepresenting credentials to get ahead of the game. In the Philippines, the percentage of candidates misrepresenting education credentials is also considerable. There are designated one-stop shops, which cater to students, professionals and anyone in need of a forged document. All you need to do is spend two hours of your time and shell out a nominal fee ranging anywhere between P200 and P1,500 you can get yourself anything from an ID card to a drivers license, thesis paper to any diploma certificate with the university of your choice. The existence of degree mills in Philippines is yet another reason for high discrepancies related to education (17.99 percent). The discrepancies related to crime is also high in the Philippines (0.66 percent), as compared to the neighboring countries like Malaysia (0.56 percent); Japan and Korea is 0.38 percent; and China is 0.24 percent. The reasons for comparatively higher discrepancies in the Philippines could be manifold. It could be due to the rapid industrial growth, introduction of best practices like background screening of the employees in the hiring process and the gradual rise in the number of people from the neighboring countries to name a few.
BM: The study cited the most common discrepancy rate occurs in the energy and finance sector. Please expound on this in relation to the Philippines.
MG: The finance and energy sectors are two of the most matured background-screening verticals. Organizations in these sectors conduct the most comprehensive screening process, including ordering more checks per candidate and screening all employees in their organization and even contractors. Our study has found that when a company conducts more checks on their candidates, they will find more discrepancies. For e.g., if an organization conducts more than six checks per candidate, they are 11 times more likely to find a discrepancy as compared to companies who conduct two checks per candidate. This may not necessary mean candidates who are subjected to two checks are more honest. It simply means that conducting more checks will help give organizations a better understanding of their candidates’ background.
BM: How does First Advantage evaluate the impact of social media in background screening? Do employers give weight to the online identity of candidates or applicants?
MG: First Advantage does not conduct a social media background check. However, social-media is becoming an increasingly importance source information for most people. It gives the employers access to a notable amount of personal and professional details.
Social media has become an integral part of most people. With social networking transcending beyond social to professional, employers are trying to find out as much information as possible about the candidates. We recommend the candidates to use their social-network accounts responsibly. Candidates should do a Google search about themselves to see what shows up. It is important to delete information that may represent you in a negative light.
It is also important to have decent names for your handles. An unprofessional name like “nutcase”, “beauty & beast” will definitely not make the cut. One should remember when you are on a social-media network there is nothing personal.
Image credits: Photo courtesy of First Advantage Corp./BusinessMirror