Wouldn’t it be great if we could spot someone who is lying with special glasses or have magical master skills like the special agents do on dramatic TV shows? Sometimes determining if someone is telling the truth can be hard to figure out, but there are certainly a lot of clues you can look for that can help make it easier.

Especially in the hiring process, it is extremely important to fact check the information
that a person provides. A survey from CareerBuilder concluded that more than 2,500 hiring managers found that 56% of their job candidates had been untruthful on their resumes. It’s estimated that the reason candidates may feel more comfortable embellishing their resumes is because they don’t think the information they give to their recruiters is going to be checked. This is why it is so important for employers to run a thorough background investigation and not take everything at face value.

With experience, Commercial Investigations LLC (CI) has identified different ways to spot if someone is being dishonest. About ten percent of the education verifications we work on at CI are found to be adverse. One key piece of information to pay attention to is a person’s graduation date in relation to their birthdate. For example, if someone claims to have graduated high school in 2002 but they were born in 1968, this may indicate that they are lying about their education. The degree awarded is also commonly exaggerated by job seekers. A GED is frequently embellished to be a high school diploma, and while they are equivalent in terms of education level, it may not be the only thing they are overstating or lying about.

Another vital inquiry that we do is a reference check. Sometimes the most crucial details of who your candidate is are not found on paper, but rather from word of mouth. We’ve found that sometimes job candidates try to use a family member as a reference. The family member or good friend will try and make up good answers to the questions they are asked, but are many times inconsistent with their own stories. While it may be
true that your relatives know you well, they may also be more willing to lie for you. Occasionally, we will have to put on our Sherlock Holmes caps – yes, of course we have those – and will dig deeper to utilize all of our resources to discover the truth.

On the criminal side of background investigations, candidates have an opportunity to disclose an offense on their consent form. If criminal information is provided, that doesn’t necessarily mean what they are providing is accurate. One of our lead investigators shared a great tip! When a subject does not give much detail with their disclosure, it often means they are down-playing a situation or that there are other records they may be hiding.

Criminal convictions are often harder to lie about, and unlike the innocent mistake of different dates of employment, most individuals with a criminal history know exactly what they have been convicted of, and when. We WILL find out the truth. All we can say then is, “Got ya! Liar liar pants on fire!”