Fewer Singaporeans putting misleading resume data as background checks rise

Overall discrepancy rates fell to 18.3% in 2018 from 20.1%.

The gap between the information on the documents submitted by candidates in Singapore versus official records fell by 2.5% in 2018 amidst intensified background checks by employers, according to a survey from HireRight. 

Employment checks emerged as the most common type of background check in Singapore, up by 24.1% YoY in 2018 from the previous year. 

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Credit checks also rose 8.7% YoY over the same period although credit discrepancies edged up to 2.8% in 2018 from 0.6% in 2017. 

The overall discrepancy rates between the documents submitted by candidates in Singapore and official records improved to 18.3% in 2018 from 20.1% in the previous year. This is lower than Australia's discrepancy rate at 19.5% but higher than Hong Kong (17%) and India (12.5%).

"[T]here is always room to improve processes and better prepare for risk. Background screening should never be considered as a simple tick-box exercise, but as a strategic business need, ensuring that organisations engender a culture of safety and security to protect not only their reputations, but their people,” said Ko Hui Yen, APAC General Manager at HireRight said in a statement.