According to a report published by the NY Times, it is mind bugling. Many are buying fake credentials; “Axact reaping billions by selling fake diplomas: NY Times”, here is the link of the report http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/19-May-2015/axact-reaping-billions-by-selling-fake-diplomas-ny-time

It is very troubling knowing one of these individuals could be a colleague or an employee not capable of performing the task at hand. Employers must be very prudent when it comes to the hiring of qualified candidates. Now a day employers keep on making the same mistake over and over by asking candidates after candidates the same questions from a script. These candidates study and master the answers to these questions; they do very well when it comes to interviewing time. However, the best qualified candidates do not get the positions.

And again, that may stem because hiring managers are not knowledgeable about the posting positions themselves.  Due to lack of knowledge, the hiring managers cannot ask technical questions pertaining to the posted positions.  

It is one of the many reasons I advise employers to ask potential candidates for some form of publications. These publications could be from social media or their own websites or a verifiable source. Have you published anything in your field? Have you engaged in forum discussion pertaining to your field or stayed up to date with current trends?  When participating in forum discussion, or social media, there is a date associated with each post so that some form of credence is associated with this form of publication.  

In a previous article “Building Positive Social Portfolio in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” I stress some of these potential issues.  Here is an excerpt of the article.

“A positive portfolio is a collection of the activities on Geazle.com; these include quotes, images, audio, blogs, articles, documents anything really, all designed to enhance some sort of positive state. A positive social portfolio is a measurement of who you are as an individual. Seeing someone's activity gives a true insight into who he/she is and what he/she does. A social portfolio curates most of everything that has been created and shared on Geazle. The question may be why considering a positive STEM portfolio. The answers are not always clear; however, a portfolio offers a chance for others to see what you have been doing in your field, or major. The social portfolio also can reveal strengths, accomplishments, and mastery of the major goals and learning outcomes that structure you. Moreover, the portfolio gives you a compilation of your posts to showcase to potential employers, school applications and so on. Having a social portfolio is openly discussed and each year many organizations are looking into this new trend.

Companies are rethinking their hiring approach; otherwise, they will forever lose their competitive edge in the race to grow in a very complex global landscape. Competition is higher more than ever before. A lack of great talent is turning out to be the greatest challenge many organizations will face. In a strong competitive global market, it deems necessary for organizations to have the right talent in the right place. Currently, many organizations require employment seekers to provide links, websites of their publications. They want to know what a potential candidate has been doing as far as his/her field of study is concerned or simply staying current with the diffusion of information. In this digital age, it is not surprising there is such a request. Many organizations realize that having a great Curriculum Vitae, conducting a good interview are not sufficient. Currently, many who are employed are significantly incompetent to complete their tasks. This incompetency stems on their curriculum vitae (CV). In addition, many potential candidates embellish their CV to appear much more qualified than they actually are.

Therefore, the time has come to start building a positive social portfolio on a STEM Network like Geazle.  Social media positive portfolio is going to be the buzz word as to what a potential employee has been doing over the course of his/her career. Beside the Curriculum Vitae, potential employees will have to provide proof of writing articles, blog post, and writing documents in their respective field or any other field or interest. Having all that employers will have a better assessment about their employees. A predictive workforce can be determined; employers can forecast potential shortages or surpluses of talent. After all, “Geazle’s mission is on diffusing STEM knowledge, discussing methodologies, promoting the exchange of experience and disseminating good practices in these disciplines as well as producing and promoting creativity and innovation”.

Be aware of fake academic credentials.