Authentication of Education Qualification by Employers

The workforce of an organization is its backbone. All companies strive to hire the best talent with the right skillsets for different job roles. It is necessary to deploy the apt resource for the right job. Recruiting a suitable candidate involves conducting thorough educational background checks by the employer to check the authenticity of details provided by the candidate. One of the most critical documents in the hiring process is the academic details of the prospective employee. It is essential to verify the qualifications claimed by the applicant, as any falsification of facts could lead to grave consequences.

Meaning of Educational Background Check

An educational verification check is one of the methods to verify the authenticity of the educational details of a job applicant. It is conducted to confirm whether the applicant has earned the degree or qualification mentioned in the resume. Educational background checks can be done for any period since most of the data is maintained online by various educational institutions and universities.

Need For Educational Background Checks

1. Educational background check is essential to ensure that the job applicant is qualified for the post and possesses the required skill set necessary for optimum performance on the job.
2. The job applicants may exaggerate their achievements and qualifications to get the job, thus adopting unfair practices. To keep a check on such malpractices, educational background verification is required. 
3. Educational background checks are necessary to identify misrepresentations and fake degrees claimed by the applicants.
4. It saves recruitment costs and reduces labor turnover.
5. It helps to eliminate applicants with suspicious educational backgrounds.

Process of Conducting Education Background Checks:

Request for Applicant’s Original Documents:

The simplest method of conducting an educational background check on a job applicant is to demand official and original degrees and certifications for verification. The employer may contact the Admission & Record office of the applicant’s educational institution to verify the same. The information required for the verification process is as follows:

• The full name of the applicant (including maiden name & name after marriage in case of female applicants)
• The educational institution’s name and complete address
• The time duration during which the candidate attended the institution 
• Details of the course pursued and degree earned.
• Transfer certificates or any such documents provided by the institution
• Official Identity cards granted by the government, such as Passport or Aadhar based eSign documents to verify one’s unique identity

Using Services of a Third-party for Education Background Check:

Outsourcing the background verification work to third-party vendors is time-saving and more feasible for organizations. The third-party companies directly verify the job applicant’s credentials and educational background with the concerned institution. This process involves the outflow of consultancy and verification fees to the third party but is a more reliable way to conduct a background check of applicants, more so when there are many applications to verify.  

Conclusion

In today’s competitive world, the number of jobs is limited while job applicants for the same are multiple. It is crucial to recruit the right candidate with the requisite qualification & skill set. Educational background checks are essential for employers to hire the most suitable employees who may go on to become the organization’s assets. It ensures a fair system of selection of applicants and eliminates undeserving candidates.

Employers should use new identification methods such as Aadhar based e-signed documents to weed out fraudulent applications from consideration. Every organization should conduct an education background check on its potential employees before hiring them.