Authbridge

Working Experience

In March 2009, Vaishali D applied for a position with a leading Indian business process outsourcing provider, in Mumbai. Among other references she provided a letter of experience from a small IT enterprise in Mumbai.

Work experience, to our client, is a vital employee requirement. The reason is that familiarity and expertise with processes, has strong business relevance. The BPO is a valued AuthBridge client. Our contract, with them, requires us to verify all qualifications and references of prospective employees.

Cold Case

AuthBridge approached Vaishali’s current employer to verify the details of her job functions, salary, performance and other related information. The report was pleasing. At the same time enquiries were being made with other previous employers going back all the way back to December 2003.

We raised a red flag when a major discrepancy showed up, between the salary she claimed to have earned and what one employer stated. This related to the period 2003 – 2004. There was a ‘discrepancy of more than 10% in the CTC’ declaration. She had not provided supporting documentation to substantiate her salary claim.

AuthBridge dug even deeper into Vaishali’s working past. We were now reaching back over six years and to the applicant’s first job after graduation. Vaishali’s employer at that time was and continues to operate from Goregaon, Mumbai.

Vaishali had provided a certificate stating that she was employed with the Goregaon firm as an ‘Office Assistance’ (sic). The signer of the certificate also wished her the best for her future.

This is where the story gets murky. When contacted the owner of the company denied ever writing any letter on behalf of Vaishali. He had a whole litany of complaints against Ms. Vaishali.

To start with the company owner was shocked to note that his company letter head had been taken and used without his knowledge. He stated that the signature on the letter was a scanned one and was accessible on the office computer. His other complaint was that her performance was very unsatisfactory.

He went on to state that Ms Vaishali abruptly left his company without any prior notice or information. She just never showed up for work from December 12, 2003. After a gap of almost seven years this was the first time that anyone had called to verify her background.

Closing The File

This case was declared as ‘Discrepant’ by AuthBridge and the BPO client was informed of the whole story.

There is no telling how many other letterheads were taken by Ms Vaishali and from whom.

This case emphasizes the fact that thorough background checking is absolutely imperative for the health and success of companies.