Do you conduct background checks on your internal candidates?
Often, organizations meticulously verify the credentials of external applicants, ensuring that even the most junior candidates haven't embellished their resumes. But, when someone is internal, there is no background check. I mean, why bother? You already know the person. But, what if that person lied before or said they completed a degree and didn't?
Background checks aren't perfect, but...
While reference checks have their limitations—after all, without personal knowledge, it's hard to gauge the credibility of a reference—background checks are indispensable. A recent incident at the Dallas Police Department underscores this necessity.
In December 2024, the Dallas Police Department terminated Gina Fowler-Strickland, a police report representative, after they discovered that she had misrepresented her educational qualifications to secure a promotion. According to reports, Fowler-Strickland falsely claimed to possess a postsecondary degree, leading to her arrest on charges of fraud related to the use of a fictitious degree.
This situation raises critical questions: How did this misrepresentation go unnoticed during the hiring and promotion processes? What verification steps were overlooked?
Don't be blinded by the purple unicorn
It's plausible that the department was seeking an ideal candidate—a "purple unicorn"—and when Fowler-Strickland's credentials aligned perfectly with their needs, they may have bypassed standard verification protocols in their eagerness to fill the role.
She's certainly not the only person to lie and get the job anyway. In 2021 the University of Utah fired a highly paid employee because he lied about having a master's degree. A British exec got fired and fined for lying about his credentials in 2022.
And, of course, there was George Santos. Remember him? He was a NY politician who lied about, well, everything. This one boggles my mind, because not only did his own party skip the background check (the Republicans) his opponents (the Democrats) didn't bother either.
Misrepresenting one's qualifications is not a minor exaggeration; it's a serious breach of trust. Organizations must remain vigilant, ensuring that all candidates, regardless of the position's seniority, undergo thorough background checks to maintain integrity and accountability.
If you are wondering what you should do with background checks--are they worth it? What happens if someone lies on their resume? Can you fire them later?
Join Wendy Sellers on April 14 for Navigating Background Checks: Balancing Compliance, Fairness, and Hiring Decisions
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