When compiling your documents while applying for various jobs it is extremely important that you verify all the details present on them. Here I would like to mention a recent incident that took place while we were conducting a background check for a candidate on behalf of a prospective employer.
Upon receiving a degree of a candidate we asked the concerned university to get the details present in the certificate verified. We had to carry out multiple follow-ups before we heard from the university notifying us to our great dismay (and of course to the candidate’s dismay) that the enrollment number present on the certificate did not exist (this particular number was never issued) and hence the certificate was fake and fabricated. After double-checking with the university we sent our report to the company who was going to process the candidate’s application (that also involved visa processing).
The candidate approached the company with the certificate and the mark sheet and when both were compared there was a difference of one single alphabet. The mark sheet contained the right enrollment number but there was a printing mistake on the certificate.
Since we were provided with the certificate so obviously our conclusion was based on that but this seriously jeopardized the candidate’s job prospects and maybe also delayed his visa process. We have restarted the entire verification process based on the enrollment number present on the mark sheet and according to initial reports nothing seems to be wrong with this particular enrollment number. The candidate too is approaching the university to get the printing mistake rectified.
Just a small mistake and this could have cost this candidate one of the greatest opportunities he must have struggled so hard to come across. It was not his fault and nobody is sure whose fault it was but the end result could have been disastrous. Our investigation was based on the information we had and once we have the documents with us we assume the information present on them to be correct (or fabricated, with little scope for grey areas).
How to avoid such situations?
It may seem like an uphill task to get every single bit of information you have verified but the process can be started at the earliest so that the situation doesn’t go out of hand at the most critical moment of your life. For instance when you’re getting certificates, diplomas and mark sheets from the actual sources get everything thoroughly checked and verified: do it yourself and cross check it with the information added to the computers at that particular location. Even if it has been a long time since you obtained your diplomas and certificates whenever you get some time just make sure that all the numbers and names tally and there are no discrepancies. When you visit your hometown or the city from where you obtained your certificates take out sometime to visit the local offices to get your information verified. Later on it can help you save lots of trouble.