Candidate Fraud vs. Skill Assessments

It is no secret that when it comes to cheating or fraudulent practices, most people lie. Even when you have the facts, evidence, or data to prove the case, some people will still deny the truth. While the ‘damage control’ option of ‘denying’ might have worked for students and candidates in the past, online AI-based proctoring has rendered that tactic useless. Quality online proctoring tools not only identify candidates who cheat, they also provide enough warnings during the test to prevent them from indulging in any malpractice. 

With Remote Hiring, Candidate Fraud is a New Reality!

And, as the blurring of lines between workplace and home continues to grow, misrepresentation in the professional sphere also continues to grow, and it is increasingly more sophisticated in the candidate interview process. Between January and June of 2021, Glider Talent Intelligence tracked a 92% increase in attempted fraudulent test tacking across its entire customer base. 

Types of Candidate Fraud?

Activities such as switching browser tabs, searching the web for a solution, copying/pasting answers, having an earpiece, to as brazen as having someone right next to them feeding the answers live were only a few of the many tactics employed by test takers.  Furthermore, the AI-proctoring feature captured that, on average, 23% of candidates engaged in some form of skill assessment malpractice. The prevalence of candidate fraud was highest in technical roles compared to non-tech. Even with the most sophisticated technology used to monitor cheating or fraudulent behaviors, the reality is, cheating happens, and it is increasing.

Why is Candidate Fraud Happening?

Going virtual also opened the professional world to a global workforce. As a result, getting a top job became a reality for more people where the opportunity was not previously available. At the same time, the stakes to get the job also became higher for everyone. Is cheating to get a job then about the candidate’s resourcefulness to get an answer at all costs? Isn’t that the mindset you want to help your company win? After all, talent is your company’s competitive advantage. So, is cheating now about working smarter, not harder? Therein lies the conundrum.

With answers to problems available at the speed of a Google search, we’ve almost conditioned people to cheat unintentionally. Ask yourself, what do you do when you don’t have answers to a question or problem at work? Yes, cheating to get something you want is perceived as dishonest, yet as Psychology Today pointed out, people will still cheat despite their feelings about it.

Addressing Candidate Fraud

Nonetheless, talent is a competitive advantage for your organization, and you must assess the fit and competency of candidates to ensure total talent quality. But assessing candidates requires a sophisticated way to meet the sophistication of tools we all have at our disposal to source answers to workplace challenges. At the same time, evaluating candidates for skill, competency and fit need to be constructed in a fashion that measures the aptitude and resourcefulness to get the job done, not a test to regurgitate memorized answers.