Qualification Verification, also known as an Education Verification, Qualification Check, Verification of Certificate or just Degree Check.
What is a qualification verification?
A qualification verification is a background check that confirms details of a candidate’s qualification and so exposes any exaggerated, fake or completely falsified qualifications – no matter where the candidate claims to have studied. We verify a candidate’s education qualifications (degree, certificate etc) direct with the awarding institute.
Have you heard of a Degree Mill? Degree Mills or Lifestyle Universities are places that can issue fake degrees or degrees based on ‘experience’. Just because a candidate produces a certificate does not mean they have completed the qualification.
If you are unsure whether you need to include qualification verifications or any other background check as part of your recruitment process, contact us for some no-obligation advice.
Case Study
A background check for one of our recruitment clients involved validation of a candidate’s degree from the UK. The candidate advised that they completed their studies “externally” and the university had since closed. The candidate provided both a certified degree certificate and transcript in support of their application.
When our team undertook enquiries, they were unable to locate contact details or any kind of web presence for this university, except for memorabilia. Extensive internet research (which even went as far as a Google Earth search that revealed the physical address for the university was an unoccupied shop!) indicated the university was a degree mill, offering qualifications based on employment history and life experience. This case study also highlights the importance of including international background checking into your policy. Just because a candidate has resided in an international location, verifying the details you would if they lived locally should be standard procedure.
