Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As the new Miss Virginia dealt with revelations that a biographical form she signed exaggerated her high school and college achievements, employment experts said fudging resumes is a fact of life in the hiring process.
A Virginia Tech professor and a national trade group for personnel directors agreed that at least one out of every four resumes contained false information.
``I suspect any employer could pull 100 applications for a job category, and if they did close scrutiny of the applications, they would find significant incidence of distortion,'' said Bob Madigan, associate professor of management at Virginia Tech.
Despite that, background checking is spotty. Just 43 percent of employers who answered a recent survey said they speak to an applicant's references by phone, and 61 percent verify college and degree information, according to the Society for Human Resource Professionals in Alexandria.
The new Miss Virginia, Andrea Ballengee, graduated from Virginia Tech cum laude, not magna cum laude as she claimed on her biographical form. That's the sort of embellishment personnel directors often see.
Ballengee also said she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Tech and that she was named Outstanding Female Athlete at Tabb High School in Yorktown. She acknowledged Thursday she didn't win either of those honors.
Ballengee said she had not intentionally misled anyone and believed at the time she filled out the form that everything on it was true.
According to the human resource society, the most common transgression is to bump an undergraduate degree to a graduate degree. Also common: inflating accomplishments at past jobs.
It takes little imagination to understand why job applicants may not always stick to the facts. In competition for jobs, people are pushed to present the most glowing image of themselves, said Deb Hedrick, employee relations director at Carilion Health Systems in Roanoke. She is also president of the Roanoke Valley chapter of the human resource society.
But even the smallest lie can dash an applicant's credibility and remove him or her from consideration, Madigan said.
Hedrick pointed out the need to consider the seriousness of a discovered lie and the intent behind it, if any. Allowing the suspected fibber to give his or her side is a good first step.
It is too expensive for most employers to routinely run extensive background checks on prospective employees. At Carilion, the higher the level of responsibility a job opening has, the more thoroughly applicants are scrutinized.
But even when a full background check is desirable, many employers complain there are obstacles to the truth. If company A calls company B to inquire about company B's former employee, company B may fear a lawsuit if it candidly discusses the employee's weaknesses. At the same time, companies have been sued for concealing information, such as an employee's violent past.
Ten states have reference-checking laws that limit an employer's legal exposure, and six others may follow suit, but Virginia is not presently on the either list, the society said. In the meantime, companies have tried to size up workers with some novel techniques, including handwriting analysis and cognitive tests, said human resource society spokesman Barry Lawrence.
by CNB