Career Development

Minimal with the truth...

If you believe some of our national media, everywhere you turn there are subversives waiting to pick us off. Don’t sleep tonight... Armageddon is tomorrow! Oh, and did you know your 14-year-old son is out pillaging the neighbourhood? Thank heavens we no longer have ‘Reds Under the Bed’.

Paranoia, of course, is nothing new. The earliest writings show how rulers have used it to control their empires, and it’s fair to say that some of us lesser mortals have indulged in a little paranoia to help us achieve our objectives.

We also know that paranoia is not confined to airlines, where whispering grannies generate sufficient fear to have innocent people hustled off aircraft.

A friend of mine – who works for a screening company based in a sleepy province – related a story where one of his clients had heard from someone, who in turn had heard that Mr X was not actually born in England as he had previously claimed on his Application Form but was, in fact, born in Hong Kong.

Being an employee of a large bank and genuinely worried about the worker’s honesty, the client initiated steps to suspend the individual and enquiries duly began.

The allegations were soon shown to be false, the employee was reinstated and the bank then had to face the spectre of a lawsuit for its unlawful (if not illegal) act.

Individuals’ honesty is becoming central to the employment contract, and dismissal on the grounds of a false statement is much easier (even a long time after someone has started in their new role)

Vetting is more proactive

All the indications suggest that employers are taking a more proactive stance in the vetting of all their members of staff, from the Boardroom down through the pay scales. While some are still falling short of the developed vetting standards employed by some Government departments, employing firms are definitely toughening up.

If you were subjected to the same post-graduate education as hypnotist Paul McKenna, it’s time to make sure this is clear on your CV (or Application Form) because educational misunderstandings are now being uncovered at a ratio of one-in-every-five applications. That represents a five-fold increase.

The irony is that, in the current recruitment climate where applicants are in high demand, most employers do not use education as a pass or fail, nor or as a barrier to entry. Rather, it is perceived as but one indicator of suitability for the job. Within the security profession, experience remains far more important and, in some roles, contacts and networks are prized above education. So why take the risk?

Everything’s in the Profiling

Of late, we have heard much talk about profiling. Pragmatists say it’s an expedient whereas others claim it’s discriminatory or even unreliable. When it comes to vetting job seekers, the advent of low-cost vetting software and third party service companies removes the need for profiling likely CV fraudsters. In half the time it used to take for an employer to screen one person, third party agents can undertake comprehensive screening of 20 or more applicants – and do so before they reach the interview stage.

While detailed facts may not be forthcoming in such a short time frame, likely areas of suspicion are always indicated and specific questions drafted. Your interviewer will ask their seemingly innocent question while the Israeli-developed technology listening-in on the table-top PC validates that your stress levels have gone through the roof at the expected point – triggering whether a few more probing questions should be asked or an automatic right to receiving a standard rejection letter shortly thereafter is warranted.

Once upon a time, your probation period would have been – on average – three months. That period was all about your ability to do the job. Now, it’s concerned with checking that you have made all of your National Insurance payments

Of course, not everyone deploys the latest technology to spot changes in your stress levels. Some interviewers have been highly trained to spot contra-indicators in peoples’ body language. Others have learned much from the respected Dr Mark Porter. The trained interviewers know that if they expect their interviewee to be uncomfortable at a certain point, then they will perceive just that. Who wouldn’t become uncomfortable when the seemingly amiable interviewer suddenly turns into a wide-eyed monster straining their neck as they crane towards you hoping to spot a bead of sweat on your palms?

Assuming you have navigated the first screening hurdle and your minor switching of dates was not picked up, you may well feel that you are home and dry. You can take comfort in employment case law which implies that, once appointed and settled into a job, unless the breach really is fundamental to the contract (or your ability to do the job) then your employer is unlikely to dismiss you for this omission alone.

Aware of this, employers are introducing more stringent requirements to their job descriptions, inductions and formal offer letters. Individuals’ honesty is becoming central to the employment contract, and dismissal on the grounds of a false statement is much easier (even a long time after someone has started their new role).

Once upon a time, your probation period would have been – on average – three months. That period was all about your ability to do the job and build a rapport with your colleagues. It was also a time for the employer to gather character references. Now, it’s concerned with checking that you have made all of your national insurance payments, that your passport and proof of eligibility to work in the United Kingdom are genuine and that you live in a house not beyond your obvious means.

Zeal for perfection!

So... Your probation period ends and you have a new job in a great organisation, but you’re constantly wondering if an ‘uncovering’ is imminent? You become paranoid and, as is the way of the paranoid, you will develop policies and rules to detect discrepancies in others.

In effect, you will morph into the perfect sentinel. Your next challenge is to spot others with the same zealous zeal for perfection and then decide on one thing... Do you harness their enthusiasm, or divest yourself of them due to the risks involved?