Could Blockchain Bring the End of Resume Exaggeration?

HR DIVE ^ | Feb. 8, 2018 | Riia O'Donnell

[nickcarraway]

Call it exaggeration or stretching the truth, the fact is that many people lie on their resume. For recruiters and hiring managers, the problem is so widespread that it is, to some degree, expected.

How much are Americans lying? A recent survey by HireRight revealed that 85% of HR professionals have found a lie on a resume. The lies don't seem to have abated with low unemployment; that number is up from 66% five years ago.

When asked, 46% of employees report knowing someone who misrepresented or exaggerated their resume, according to Office Team. What are they fudging about? The most common lie centers on experience, followed by duties, education and employment.

A critical missing piece of your health benefit strategy might be hiding right under your nose. Executed the right way, primary care is uniquely positioned to be a game-changer for employers.

Tech vs. truth

Some say applicant tracking systems may be to blame. World-weary recruiters, trying to sift through the hundreds of resumes that come in response to every posting, are turning to technology to thin the herd.

But candidates have wised up — realizing that their applications may never make it to a human who would allow one year and 11 months' experience to slide when a posting says two years' experience — and are honing their resumes to make the software's cut. The same tech that was supposed to make it easier to hire has now made it easier to hire the unqualified.

“Employers have significantly higher chances of choosing candidates with incorrect credentials," Danny King, CEO of Accredible, told HR Dive. For recruiters, the time saved screening has created time spent verifying.

“Third party verification,” King says, “is a necessary step in an ever-increasing digital hiring environment.”

Enter blockchain

Blockchain is the newest tool in HR's toolbox. The technology isn’t terribly new, but HR professionals are beginning to find uses for it.

If you don't know what blockchain is, you’re not alone. The short version: it lets you access goods, services or information directly from the source without a “trusted third party.” (Think ordering a ride directly from a driver without the ride service taking a fee.) Want the long version? See Blockchain: What is it and how is HR using it?

When it comes to resumes, blockchain technology has the potential to largely eliminate exaggeration. Schools can post degrees and educational details, employers can share dates and titles, and credentialing entities can make information available. Candidates could then authorize employers to access their records directly.

“Although blockchain cannot guarantee all exaggerations or flaws will be detected, it does dramatically reduce incidents of fraudulent points and helps employers get the most accurate picture of their candidate’s credentials before hiring," King said.

First steps Blockchain for HR is in its infancy. MIT was one of the first universities to issue “recipient-owned virtual credentials” when it debuted blockchain last year to allow access to degrees.

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Email: Enter your work email SIGN UP The key is a reliable source, says Steve Chen, EchoLink project founder; “Blockchain can be used to provide verified education and skill information if the data sources are verified. i.e. if we know degree info is put on the blockchain by universities and not users themselves, then such information would have a high degree of integrity.”

Wide adoption will be important, too, says John Nurthen, executive director global research at Staffing Industry Analysts. “If schools, universities, employers, skills test providers and drug screening agencies all agreed to record data on a common blockchain, we might see much more certainty added to the hiring process," he said.

So how do we get there? “Until we see the emergence of a dominant player around which consensus emerges, the promise of resume integrity will mostly remain an aspiration," Nurthen says.

Blockchain’s potential How blockchain will integrate with applicant tracking systems remains to be seen, but it could well be the next phase of ATS evolution. Imagine a system that allows candidates to direct HR right to their credentials for immediate verification.

The benefits could go beyond time saving. HR could focus on the more important strategic aspects of the profession, like employee engagement, development and retention. Blockchain has the potential to revolutionize not only how we hire, but how we dedicate HR bandwidth.

[OldMissileer]

Saw a post recently. Company wants 10 years of NodeJS experience. NodeJS was created 2009.

If you use Common Core Math it is doable.

[Bulwyf]

I have already run a big job in Nashville etc when I was still employee. The codes are very similar. What I found difficult was there is no standard for electricians.

I had a guy on my crew that had over 30 years experience and all he could do was run conduit, build tray, pull wire and cables. He said he wasn’t qualified to terminate etc. I thought he was joking around. He liked Hillary too, so I wasn’t too sad when I told him his services weren’t needed anymore.

I do vfds, rtus, PLCs, all kinds of motors, instrument devices, basically anything and I just thought that was normal. It was a shock to see not many guys cover much area. I’m sure they’re there, I just didn’t see it.

I was doing rig calls in WV and Ohio as well and northern PA, and found the same thing. Those guys couldn’t believe the things I could do. I said where I’m from that’s just apprentice work.

There’s no standard from state to state, so that would make it difficult for some people to move around for work.

[blackdog]

"Old white guy who has not been killed by electricity or moving machine parts, with all his fingers still attached, with 35 years of experience making stuff run in a large manufacturing facility seeks job.Usually gets along well with others if left alone.

That pretty much was my last resume to get a new job.

[blackdog]

The modern electrician is controls insufficient these days. No plc expertise, no factory talk, very little motion control as is applied these days. Also very dangerous new hires.

[thoughtomator]

Blockchain is a solution in search of a problem.

[thoughtomator]

They can also blame themselves for hiring H1-Bs, who in the tech sector are submitting fraudulent resumes 99%+ of the time.

[Bulwyf]

Up here it’s a lot of automation, so a guy has to know.

I can do residential and commercial, but I don’t find it engaging enough.

I have dabbled in programmimg, and was offered a spot doing that in a great company, but I figured I should continue this a bit longer.

[nickcarraway]

Do you have a citation for that?

[nickcarraway]

Has anyone gone to jail for that?

[thoughtomator]

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[familyop]

"What I found difficult was there is no standard for electricians."

The IBEW (union) administered standards in the States in the past, but it's been dissolved to some extents and tends to be active in larger cities. As far as I know, the IBEW didn't administer apprenticeships in Canada for whatever reason, although it did give supplemental training to some according to info on the Net. No organization replaced it in the States to keep or administer national standards for training and methods.

For licensing, some states have apprenticeship requirements that only admit totaled hours served under contractors (hours signed off by contractors or supervisors) and a little bit of testing (Colorado, for one). At least some counties, rife with fly by night contractors, don't bother with regulating in regards to licenses. I don't know about all of the states.

IMO, the standard for electrical workers in the U.S. should be comprehensive, extensive, well monitored, nationally standardized testing based on the NEC. Some people learn faster and care more than others. Those who want to have their years of "seniority" as the main consideration tend to win out in attempts to set standards for electricians, though, and the large corporations wouldn't allow an office for national testing.

In big cities, they tend to hire IBEW electricians due to licensing requirements. The big corporates will retain discretion wherever they can to choose who they will call "engineers" (including glorified script kiddies in software, interior decorators, all) based on their political correctness and affiliations.

In the States, many of the IBEW electricians are relegated to climbing poles in thunderstorms for years before being moved into indoor industrial jobs. I suppose many have been put off by thoughts of being fried or skinning poles while paying attention to barking supervisors. There are also those who do the potential transition dance while hanging from helicopters next to the higher voltage lines. Snap! Yeehaw.

There were two who went to high school with me before becoming linemen. One fried and died slowly on a line while having monstrous amounts of current running through him. The other has COPD from smoking (emergency jobs, no sleep).

It seems somehow safer to restrict oneself to jobs where the current is turned off and locked out until job completion (trust issues, weather conditions, falling tree limbs,...). A friend had me try pole hooks once, long ago. Whoah. I stuck with tree hooks and working for less at the time (safer topping timber). ;-)

[captain_dave]

Universities could post their degree recipients online today. Blockchain is unnecessary. It’s being hyped

[dfwgator]

I thought about Blockchain for elections, and certifying there’s no cheating.

Of course, Democrats will never allow it.

[Democrat_media]

Could monero be hacked since it’s anonymous?

[rurgan]

Wait till 2020.

If Trump gets elected then go to the USA.

Trump is the only one keep the USA free and not turning into Venezuela