There have been numerous times over the last few years where I have spoken with a candidate and I have had the niggling feeling that something just didn’t add up…
This was the case last week when a candidate contacted me for the first time and their resume showed that they had been working as a Salesforce Administrator with one of my clients in Sydney for the last two years. New candidates do pop up but I know the market and my clients well so was shocked that I hadn’t heard of this candidate before.
I asked the candidate who they had been working with, what they had delivered over the two years and why they had decided to move on. The responsibilities they described seemed to add up but it was when we discussed the names of their supposed ex colleagues that alarm bells really started ringing.
Even though this candidate could describe what they had been doing for the last 2 years and actually holds 2 Salesforce certifications (I verified this based on their email address) I wasn’t comfortable. I had a role that was perfect for their skill set if their story added up but rather than taking any risks and letting my client meet them, I trusted my gut and utilised my well established network to address my concerns.
After the call I got in touch with a Salesforce contact of mine who is still working for this client to see if anyone from the project had moved on recently, or if they had worked with any other Salesforce Administrators at this company… I also spoke to a few other contacts within the business, without mentioning the candidates name to see if anyone else could remember a recent departure from the project team or “a Salesforce Administrator who is also very comfortable with Apex and Visualforce” as the candidate claimed… but no luck.
After my quick investigation it was clear that this person had not worked for my client. When I challenged the candidate again on their time working there, surprisingly they openly admitted that it was a fabrication and that the only hands on Salesforce experience they had was in a Developer Org while completing an online Salesforce training course that had been produced overseas.
They had copied the content for their resume from profiles they had found online and felt that the certifications they held would provide a company with enough comfort to hire them.
So why did the candidate lie? Well it’s widely known that there is a major skill shortage in the Salesforce market here in ANZ and that salaries are ever increasing so there is no surprise that candidates are desperate to break into this space.
I have no doubt that this particular candidate would be able to hold a good conversation, use the right terminology and provide enough information about their ‘Salesforce career to date’ to impress a hiring manager who does not know the ins and outs of the Salesforce platform.
If a ‘fake’ doctor can operate in NSW for 11 years without being detected, how many ‘fake’ Salesforce candidates could there be?
My advice is to ensure that every candidate you consider bringing into your business should be technically challenged, ideally with a practical assessment. If you do not have the capability or knowledge in house to conduct this kind of interview then get in touch to find out how we can help.