Fake It Till You Make It? Strong NO

The phrase ‘fake it till you make it’ floats around every professional environment as a shortcut to success. However, how beneficial is such a process, really?

Our Bangalore office once received a verification request from one of our reputed clients for a certain candidate for a mid-senior level role. This candidate’s profile reflected strong claims about work experience, education and skill. A key position to be filled and a strong profile put forth: the stars have aligned for this organization. But, have they, really?

Once an educational background check was carried out by our teams among other verifications, we found that his documents presented fake hints. When a deeper check was carried out, our team found that his education degree was faked through and through by the candidate. This was found out by getting in touch with the institution that emailed us back letting us know that the degree presented was fake and no such student existed with them. 

When confronted by the employers, the candidate tried to solidify his claims by producing a supporting letter from the university confirming his presence as a student on the campus. To the naked eye, this letter looked every bit genuine because it was printed on the university letterhead as well as signed by a professional at the registrar. 

To authenticate further, our clients requested that we check for this document too. To our surprise, the Director of the campus denied any connection to said letter and confirmed to us that no staff from the campus has ever authorized or presented such a document to any student. 

Despite an impressive working experience and skillset, if a candidate is unable to provide an honest profile and genuineness in their details, it becomes a huge matter of concern on  whether to hire such a candidate or not. After all, ‘fake it till you make it’ can only get one so far in life!

Stay safe, prevent hiring mishaps. Prevention is always better than punishment, and a simple verification can save you many hours of trouble in the future!