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Resume runaround

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In light of John Mark Karr's checkered past, employers discuss how they research their potential employees.

By MAYA RAO

Date published: 9/3/2006

The database in Cheri Alvarez's office searches more than 260 million criminal records in 50 states, going back 25 years. It has turned up drug charges, rape charges, attempted-kidnapping charges--and even a cow-tipping misdemeanor.

The reasons people call her office, The Agency Private Detective Inc. in Fredericksburg, are as sundry as the secrets her investigations uncover.

But increasingly, companies in Fredericksburg and the Washington area are calling to verify the backgrounds of job applicants.

Glossing over employment gaps, fudging on resumes and falsely checking "No" to "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" may be as ubiquitous to the job-application process as mass-mailed cover letters.

Many companies are becoming more sophisticated in rooting out applicants with criminal records and invented college degrees. But some experts say that the majority of people still lie on their resumes or job applications--and not enough employers thoroughly check them.

"The number of people that lie on resumes is absurd," said Bruce Rollins of Unistaff LLC, an employment agency with a branch in Fredericksburg.

Misleading information usually falls into one of two categories: hidden criminal backgrounds or resumes with inflated job titles, education and skills.

People picking up trash in a parking lot call themselves "environmental technicians." Self-proclaimed typing whizzes who boast a rate of 50 words per minute sit down at a computer in Rollins' office and, well, you can guess the rest.

Rollins estimated that only about six out of 10 employers check applicants' background thoroughly, though vigilance has risen since Sept. 11.

Inaccuracies or falsehoods happen "unfortunately pretty frequently, or more than we would like," said Candace Stennett, employment coordinator at Taskforce Inc., a Fredericksburg employment agency. "We get a lot of people that tend to lie about their criminal background or lie about their eligibility for rehire."

Job applicants generally must sign a waiver in order to allow a company to examine certain records as part of a background investigation. Why, then, do people with multiple felonies, invented jobs or references who say they are ineligible for rehire still apply?

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure," Stennett said. "It's something that we often wonder ourselves."

Date published: 9/3/2006