“Wow!” is the usual expression that comes out when you see a spotless resume and a huge pile of achievements and qualifications. But how many times do you think to still run a thorough background check verifying all the data provided in those documents? Not always, right?

A ‘perfect’ resume can so not be perfect at times, especially in a country like India where people can resort to any means to get employed. But, why so?

With more than 1.37 billion people surviving on the limited resources in the country, India ranks second in the list of most populous country in the world. Though this ever expanding population rate indicates a huge number of available labour, the current job market scenario is bleak. There are not enough jobs in the market to feed all. Thus, the competition to get hired has become pretty aggressive. To survive in this “rat race,” people sometimes are found to have discrepancies in what they say their qualifications are, and what a background screening company can actually verify.

But what is a discrepancy?

A discrepancy is simply the lack of consistency between two or more facts. In the verification industry, it refers to the inconsistencies between the information provided by a candidate and the information that can be actually independently verified.

Indian metropolitan cities, in fact, records an increasing rate of discrepancy with 9.5%, according to the Q2 2019 ‘First Advantage Background Screening Trends Report: India’ and these are related to educational qualification, address, criminal background, and employment history.

Recording a discrepancy rate of 56.2% in the Q2, employment discrepancies mainly include incorrect tenure, inflated designation, unverified employment, unverifiable companies and certificates, negative references/feedback to name a few. Sectors like Banking, Financial Services, FMCG, Healthcare, Hospitality, Insurance, Manufacturing, Pharma and Retail have recorded the highest discrepancies in this category.