We’ve all heard the old adage – hire slowly, fire quickly.
Nowhere does that ring more true than at fast-scaling startups across London’s bustling hub of tech and innovation.
When you’re growing at breakneck speed, getting your hiring right the first time is critical.
But what if candidates aren’t who they claim to be?
You may not realize you’ve been hoodwinked until it’s too late.
Take the local fintech founder who regrettably hired a “Cambridge grad” who turned out to have never attended university at all!
His deception set their product roadmap back months.
Friends, CV fraud is rampant across the UK.
Some studies have found up to 40% of CVs contain falsehoods on education history, employment dates, accolades, and more.
With London as the startup capital of Europe, we need to protect our world-class talent pool.
So how do savvy scaling startups here verify candidates have the degrees they boast?
Let’s explore best practices for education screening and stapling those holes in your hiring process. By ensuring genuine qualifications upfront, you’ll avoid detrimental hiring delays and mistakes down the road.
Verify Authentic-looking Degrees
Once a candidate makes it to the advanced hiring stages, confirming university qualifications is a must.
For degrees from UK institutions, third-party verification services can request confirmation directly from the university by providing:
- Candidate name (and maiden name if applicable)
- Date of birth
- University attended, course name, graduation date
For international degrees, firms will first check that the university exists and was operational when the candidate attended.
Then they will screen records office databases in that country for a matching degree.
Check qualifications for:
- Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorates
- Professional designations like MBAs or MCIPs
- Vocational qualifications, depending on relevancy to the role
Savvy hiring managers also scrutinize CV education timelines for overlap, gaps, or oddly short degree durations.
For instance, graduating medical school in 2 years should prompt deeper investigation before making an offer!
Confirm The Right-to-Work Status
If you’re recruiting international talent who studied abroad, additional right-to-work screening also comes into play.
This ensures candidates have appropriate UK work visas or permanent residency if educated outside Britain.
Some key aspects for startups to validate include:
- Passport and previous visas to understand the candidate’s status
- Current visa terms – is it still valid? Are restrictions in place?
- Work eligibility of spouse/dependents
Following the Home Office’s ‘eight-to-work’ guidance isn’t just about avoiding fines. It’s about ensuring your team composition is solid across the board – now and in the future.
Check The Accreditation Status Of Unknown Institutions
If a candidate attended an obscure or unfamiliar university, do some digging before taking the institution’s credentials at face value.
Contact the Ministry of Education in that country to confirm whether the university is officially recognized and accredited to issue degrees.
Additionally, search the institution on directories from accreditation bodies like the British Accreditation Council to validate quality standards.
Fraudulent “diploma mills” still slip through the cracks in some countries.
Validate Professional Licenses and Charterships
For any professional designations like Project Management Professional (PMP), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or Chartered Accountant (CA) listed on a candidate’s CV, verify their registration directly with the administering association.
Check that they hold active membership status, earned the qualification, and have no disciplinary history on record.
This provides evidence they genuinely obtained the credentials claimed.
Screen Dual Degrees for Plausibility
If you come across an overachiever claiming to have earned multiple high-level degrees simultaneously in a short period of time, scrutinize closely for credibility.
While exceptional candidates do sometimes “double major” effectively, completing two full Masters programs in 18 months while working full-time can stretch the bounds of reality.
Review official transcripts to ensure adequate course load and graduation validity.
Records Management Best Practices
- Store verification records and all supporting documents in a secure place.
- Limit access to those strictly involved in hiring decisions to respect candidate privacy.
- Clearly communicate to candidates what specific education claims you intend to check and secure consent before verification requests.
- Transparently handle the screening to avoid catching applicants off guard or feeling invasive.
- Develop a standardized verification procedure that applies consistently across all senior, technical, and managerial hires.
By taking these steps to professionally validate candidate qualifications and visa status, your startup can staff up smoothly with legitimate top talent.
Taking shortcuts by trusting CVs at face value is a recipe for painful lessons down the road.
