Talent & Tech Asia Summit 2024
human resources online

More Malaysians are lying on their resumes

Here's a wake-up call for bosses in Malaysia - a higher number of your candidates might be lying to you.

According to the First Advantage 2016 Background Screening Trends Report for Asia Pacific, the overall screening discrepancy of local candidates totaled 16.64% in 2015.

This was higher than the percentage identified in 2014 (13.50%), and in 2013 (10.24%).

The report was based on data drawn from two million employment background verifications and reference checks across Asia Pacific, including Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

The report highlighted financial related discrepancies saw significant increase in Malaysia, constituting 10% of all discrepancies in year 2015, compared to 0.8% in year 2014.

Despite this, discrepancies related to education were the highest among local candidates - making up 24.52% of all discrepancies found.

This was followed by database related misalignments, coming in at 23.68%.

ALSO READ: 23% of candidates have exaggerated the truth to get hired

"The overall screening discrepancy of candidates in Asia Pacific totaled 17.3% in 2015, a slight decrease from 2014’s 17.9%. In 2013, this was pegged at 13.4%," the report stated.

Australia discrepancy rates continue to be the highest in the Asia Pacific region at 24.72% followed by Hong Kong at 18.04%.

China and Japan/Korea discrepancy rates were the lowest in the region at 7.51% and 9.16% respectively.

Singapore's discrepancy rates stood at 16.97%, lower than in 2014 (18.88%).

The highest type of background checks were employment verifications, with 41% of firms in Malaysia requesting such types of checks.

The education verification was the second most requested check in Asia Pacific in year 2015. Countries with the highest number of such requested checks were Japan and Korea at 29%, Hong Kong at 28% and Malaysia at 25%.

"Both multinational and local companies are now engaged in a war for talent. While the right hires will become valuable company assets, hiring mistakes can prove to be costly. This is true from the lowest levels of an organisation to the topmost levels," the report stated.

"Bad hires in the region have had huge impact on the corporate world, highlighting the importance of conducting due diligence on potential employees as well as business partners."

Image: Shutterstock

Follow us on Telegram and on Instagram @humanresourcesonline for all the latest HR and manpower news from around the region!

Free newsletter

Get the daily lowdown on Asia's top Human Resources stories.

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's Human Resources development – for free.

subscribe now open in new window