Employers to carry out background checks as fake degree cases rise

Employers have announced plans to put in places checks to identify discrepancies in resumes.

This follows the Ministry of Education’s crackdown on fake degrees as it moves to overhaul the education system.

According to the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) there has been an increasing trend to fabricate university qualifications the hope of securing job opportunities in a highly competitive market.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, IHRM council member Dorcas Wainaina said employers should not only focus on education qualifications but also background checks on the capability of the candidate.

Ms Wainaia said apart from using behavioral interviewing techniques the company should also focus on other multiple filters to avert the smart alecks forging their academic qualifications.

“The education system plays its part in imparting the education then of course the teachers are prepared to teach the students according to the curriculum. Then you find students going out of their way too to do their thing their own way in a manner that is not accepted but they make it as if it’s the norm. We are here the professionals,” said Mrs Wainaina.

She said in a competitive employment market, some are tempted to falsify their education history in order to make themselves more attractive to potential employers.

“Qualifications should not be the focus. In any case there are other organizations that have stopped looking on the degrees you have and the qualifications you have. They are focusing on what you can bring to the table as well as what capability you have, so that we focus on other skills and not the A that may have defined you and perhaps not a Matiang’i A” said Ms Wainaina.

Many employers believe that people are telling the truth so that trust can be put in references and interviews.