Vigilance key at CVCheck

Perth company CVCheck is meeting increasing demand for its services as employers seek to apply greater levels of scrutiny to the details provided by job applicants.

The prevalence of background screening has been thrust into the spotlight recently with news Myer was duped into employing a conman to a high-level executive position.

Andrew Flanagan was subsequently sacked when it was revealed he allegedly fudged his resume to include past experience at companies such as Inditex, the owner of Spanish retailer Zara.

CVCheck founder Steve Carolan told Business News that, for the price of just $30, a check using his company’s unique technology could have revealed the deception.

CVCheck was founded in 2004 based on automated technology that verifies people’s qualifications, work experience and police record.

During the past decade it has expanded the technology to undertake more than 500 different types of verifications, which it now provides to clients in more than 75 countries.

The potential of the Perth start-up has also attracted investors, with a recent capital raising led by local stockbroker Triple C Consulting closing early and over-subscribed.

CVCheck plans to use the $2 million worth of capital raised to further expand its technology and geographical reach.

Mr Carolan said workforce changes were motivating employers to be more vigilant about the people they employed.

“Our workforce is more mobile than ever which means that employees are moving between jobs, industries or locations more than they ever have before,” he said.

“Employers are needing more assurance that they can trust what they are reading in an applicant’s CV.”

The company’s chief technical officer, Colin Boyan, said honest employees were also opting to use CVCheck’s services to give job applications the benefit of third-party assurance.

He said the rate of people making false claims on their resume was high, with some even embellishing their qualifications despite warnings that checks would be undertaken.

“There still is a significant percentage of people who will try to bluff their way through, or rely on the fact that maybe employers won’t actually follow up and do the checks,” Mr Boyan said.

CVCheck employs 25 staff in total, with the operational base headquartered in Perth and sales staff spread across the country.

The company was also successful in winning two Commercialisation Australia grants worth a total of $600,000 in 2012 and 2013 to develop the technology.