Education Check verification is a pivotal step in background verification for job-seeking candidates. Ignoring this process can lead to companies being deceived by candidates’ fake education qualifications and skills they mentioned while applying for a job. If companies hire employees based only on their self-declaration provided in the resume, it could potentially hinder companies’ growth.
According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, only 51% of the country’s youth is deemed employable. According to this, India’s youth face skill gaps, hindering employability; challenges in skilling and entrepreneurship landscape outlined. This was published by The Hindu on July 22, 2024. In India, approximately 5 million students graduate every year.
In the year 2021, 36,000 fake degrees were busted in Manav Bharti University (MBU), and an even bigger racket was busted by Mohali police that contained over 100 fake degrees and certificates of various courses from school and private universities, including 16 government and private universities as well as school boards. These developments have led to companies needing to do education checks in the process of hiring.
Reasons Education Check Verification is Critical for the Company:
Candidate hiring is done basically to smoothen the business operations. So, complete attention must be given while hiring candidates. Companies might skip this process because they may consider it complicated and time-consuming. Here are some of the reasons why education checks are critical for your company:
Protect Company Resources: When the new hiring takes place, the company needs to conduct training sessions. Most of the training is to train the employees to familiarize them with the software they are working with or to know how to work by using the knowledge they acquire by having a specific degree or education. When the hiring process is done without doing an education check based on the resume they submitted, there may be contradictions with the resume. So, the human resources and the time they invest in training will be wasted.
Employee Honesty Check: Resume fraud may create doubts about the qualifications of the candidate and also indicate poor character. When the employer does the education check, the ethical behaviour of the employee may come to light. The education check also involves the genuineness of certificates from the educational institution about the conduct of the employee.
Hiring a Skilled Person: This is the most helpful point to understand whether the employee is qualified for the job, has the necessary knowledge and skills, and whether the subjects he is interested in are in line with the needs of the employer.
Ruling Out Candidates with Irrelevant Qualifications: Nowadays, youngsters are interested in foreign education. The challenge is that the degree they earn or the education they took may not be exactly in tune with the company’s requirements. So, it is necessary to do the education check to avoid unnecessary disruption of work.
Control the Hiring Cost: The hiring process is cost-effective, and it involves the time and effort of human resources and department heads. So, not paying attention to the education check verification will increase the overall hiring cost.
Save Companies from Fake Degrees and Certificates: There are unregistered institutions and rising diploma mills issuing forged degrees in exchange for money. These institutions are not recognized or affiliated with any other recognized universities or institutions. In some scenarios, although the intuitions are recognized, the students may fail or not be qualified to take the exam. They may forge the registration number and degree certificates to take a job in any way possible.
Prevent Potential Liability: Some events or situations can be prevented from happening if the company has followed its protocol during the employee hiring process. The employees hired with such a background can cause company losses or leak the company’s secrets. This can be prevented by proper education checks and background verification. Identity theft can also be a possible reason for doing education checks.
How do companies do Education Checks?
Companies may opt for in-house verification or hire third parties for verification. Here are some of the ways that companies can do education checks:
- Ask candidates to submit certain documents related to their identity, education qualification, and information about the educational institution, such as the name of the school or college, address, and contact information.
- The employer may do in-house verification by internally assigning a job to an employee of the company.
- There are agencies for background verification, and the company may opt for a third party to do the candidate’s education check.
- Direct contact with education institutions by sending mail or e-mail can also be done to confirm the candidate’s education, enrollment date, registration number, and the skills and knowledge he possesses.
- Contacting references provided by the candidates.
Companies can’t simply do education checks or background verification for employment. They need to follow Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requirements and permission from the candidates to do so.
Conclusion
Education checks play a quiet role in the hiring process. The workforce today needs to have some educational qualification for their work. Rising diploma mills and unregistered institutions issuing education certifications for the exchange of money compel companies to do education checks in the hiring process. Education checks also benefit companies by knowing candidates’ transparency in the work.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
What is an education check?
This is a process conducted by employment companies to make sure that the employees are qualified for the job and to ensure the authenticity of the employees’ education qualifications.
Why is an education check time-consuming?
Contacting educational institutions and third-party services, requesting proof of additional qualifications or asking for references take time to process the request, so companies don’t have any choice other than waiting for the response. Some institutions restrict only former students from accessing the information.
How does a company benefit from education checks?
Companies can benefit in several ways by having an education check before hiring employees. They are reducing the risk of hiring unqualified candidates and following the protocol. It protects companies from fake hiring and saving from unavoidable situations.
