Unemployment among young South Africans stands at 65 percent, according to the 2018 Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY). This leading global competitiveness study surveys 63 industrialised and emerging economies to rate their ability to create and maintain an environment that sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. Coupled with a rise in the cost of living brought on by the national VAT increase and fuel price increases, South Africa’s economic challenges mean that there is an ever-growing demand for employment.

While jobs may be less available than hoped, many organisations are still in a position to offer employment. The challenge is, therefore, to sift the good from the bad job applicants in the highly competitive job market.

What makes a good candidate?

Rudi Kruger, General Manager of Data Services at LexisNexis South Africa, says the fundamental quality of a good candidate is honesty. “Candidates, who sincerely represent themselves in their applications are worth consideration. Whereas, candidates who fabricate information should never be trusted,” he said.

Dishonest applications include falsified information like – fake qualifications, exaggerated employment histories, non-declaration of criminal background, citizenship and other transgressions like theft, fraud and misconduct. “Big breaks in employment are another sign to look out for as this could mask dismissals or acrimonious departures,” Kruger added.

However, determining if a candidate is completely honest or not is not easily achievable unless they are put through a background screening process.

“Verifying information on job seekers would be challenging in an anxious job market, had it not been for the great technological advancements in background screening that are available,” said Kruger with reference to online solutions like Lexis® RefCheck.

The solution simplifies the tedious process of background screening and assists employers with verifying a wide range of personal information, including identity of candidate, information held by credit bureaus, criminal records, driver's licenses, global academic qualifications and professional association memberships. The online verification solution helps to automate the hiring process while ensuring a candidate meets a company’s employment standards. Its services include verification of tertiary and secondary academic qualifications held by the individual from registered local and international institutions; identity and South African citizenship validation; fraud history checks via the South African Fraud Prevention Services; credit history checks through detailed TransUnion and Experian credit bureau reports; criminal history check via AFISwitch (electronic fingerprint collection and processing); verification of local and international employment history and professional association membership; verification of drivers’ licence status; and matching of bank account information against an identity number or registration number.  For more information, visit https://www.refcheck.co.za/RefCheck/login.aspx