In a perfect world we wouldn’t have to worry about fake job applicants—every application we receive would be from a real person looking for a real job (and maybe if we were lucky most people would actually be qualified too!).
But that’s not the world we live in.
Instead, we have a job marketplace populated with an unknown number of bad actors. People who are trying to get jobs not because they want to work for you, but because they want to take advantage of your business.
- They could be trying to get paychecks without doing any work
- They could be someone unqualified who is hoping to fake it until they make it
- They could be a cyber-criminal trying to get access to your systems in hopes of stealing and distributing sensitive data.
Bu no matter the reason, it’s more important than ever to make sure candidates are who they say they are. Part of our approach involves advanced technology capable of screening out bad applicants by testing skills rather than resumes (check out SkillsProject to learn more!)
But there is still plenty you can do to spot fake applications before you even get close to hiring. Here are some of the things Raise looks for when trying to find fake job applicants:
Is their experience too good to be true?
When you post a job you always hope for the perfect candidate—someone who has the skills, the experience, the education, all wrapped up in a nice looking, professional, well-written resume.
But what if it’s too good to be true? Sometimes you can look at a resume that should be a slam dunk, but something seems off—especially if they have everything you’ve asked for and then some. This would be a good sign that the candidate is exaggerating or fabricating qualifications and experience.
Many legitimate candidates will use AI to help tailor their resumes and cover letters. And in those cases, you’ll find candidates using the wording of your job postings. After all, you’ve asked them to demonstrate their skills and experience in a certain way, so getting AI to help makes sense.
But it can also start looking suspicious. If there are no differences between the experience they have and what you’ve asked for it could be a red flag.
Many fake resumes will sound and look alike as well. If you see a handful of resumes that have the same format, same bolded keywords, there is a good chance they’re fake.
We’ve also found that many fake resumes will often use the same companies over and over—if you’re noticing a trend on resumes you think could be fake, keep an eye out for those companies later.
Is their work experience (including timing and locations) suspicious?
Because they are being generated by AI, fake resumes will often have trouble being consistent in the way that people usually are.
For example, most workers tend to stay in the same areas over a period of years. Yes, people move from time to time, but mostly they have good reasons to move, and do so only when necessary.
An AI resume might not be paying attention to those details—they could have someone live in 4 different cities and 3 different countries in 3 years. Or they could have people switching between small, medium and large businesses at random. Maybe even in different industries.
Same with education. If someone completed school in April, what are the odds they started a job across the country a month later? It’s almost impossible.
It’s always a good idea to prod applicants on these sorts of things in interviews. If they work for a company that your company has worked with, ask if they could get a referral from a colleague—fake applicants will be unable and unwilling to discuss specifics of past employers, especially if it might involve evidence of their employment.
Some companies on resumes might not even be real—fake companies are the kind of “hallucination” that might get put out by an AI generator. Obviously you won’t be able to easily find evidence of every company—but it’s the sort of red flag that might prompt you to ask pointed questions in the interview or phone screen.
Are there any mistakes or errors?
Some errors will indicate a fake resume while others could point to it being real.
For example, spelling errors/typos aren’t typically made by AI, which would indicate that a person wrote (or at least edited) the content.
Alternatively, errors such as having 5 years of experience in a technology that has only existed for 2 years is suspicious. AI generators might get over eager and lie about people’s experience.
A well-crafted AI resume will probably be indistinguishable from the real thing—but you can still catch people who aren’t putting maximum effort into the process (and especially people translating from another language).
Is there a LinkedIn profile attached?
Not every candidate will have a profile on LinkedIn, but in conjunction with other red flags this can be suspicious.
If they do have a profile, check how many connections they have, and how much detail there is on their work experience.
If there are some inconsistencies between their resume and their profile, or the profile seems very bare bones/thrown together quickly, it could be the sign of a fake candidate.
Wrap
Most jobs will get all sorts of applicants: qualified people, unqualified people, and everybody in between.
With how easy it is to create AI applications, you’ll also get some fake applicants looking to sneak through. If your recruitment team knows the signs of fake applications, uses quality screening tools, and does a good job following up on inconsistencies, you’ll be in a good spot to protect your business.
Raise uses all of the latest technological innovations to protect our clients from fake applicants. If you’re interested in learning more about how Raise can help you hire better, check out our website.
