Prospects, the UK’s leading provider of information, advice and opportunities to students and graduates, has launched a free toolkit, the Higher Education Degree Datacheck (HEDD), to help protect businesses from applicants who lie about their qualifications in order to land a job.
The toolkit is backed by the government, and it has been developed by Prospects in collaboration with employers, professional associations and law enforcement authorities. It will help employers put measures in place for recruiting and screening candidates as well as provide advice on what to do if they find out an employee has lied about a degree. It also contains case studies, templates and useful contacts.
The latest research by the Risk Advisory Group reported that nearly half of CVs contain discrepancies in education claims. HEDD found by interviewing 106 employers that a third of them take CVs at face value, and 76% assume degree certificates are legitimate, so don’t check with the awarding body. Common lies include falsely claiming a degree, inflating grades and changing subjects to fit a particular job role.
Jayne Rowley, higher education services director at Prospects, said: “Fake degree certificates are widely available online for just a few pounds and there are thousands of bogus universities which fool people into thinking they are getting a degree. Both are often modelled on genuine universities, so it’s easy to see why employers may be duped. The only way to be sure a candidate is qualified to do a job is to check with the awarding university claims which have been made.”
She added: “Smaller businesses are among the most at risk of falling victim to degree fraud. They are less likely to be aware of the threats and of how to protect themselves.”
She advises employers to notify applicants that qualifications will be verified; to accept only original certificates and not photocopies; to check certificates with the issuing university or via HEDD; to remember that a notary will only confirm sight of an original document and not whether it’s genuine; and to check that a university is listed on hedd.ac.uk.
To download the toolkit or for more information visit www.hedd.ac.uk
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