Education Verification in Recruitment: How Do You Handle It and Is It Worth the Cost?

Hello fellow HR members,

I have a few questions regarding the recruitment procedure, especially background verification (BGV). I posted this in another group but did not receive to-the-point answers. TIA. If any third-party agency can help, please inbox me the details or contact number.

Education Verification Process

1. Does your organization conduct education verification from the university or college, or is just physical verification done?

Pros and Cons of Education Verification

2. What are the pros and cons of conducting education verification from a college/university, and is it advisable?

Time and Cost Considerations

3. How much time does it take (duration) and how much would it cost per employee?

Any insight would be very helpful to standardize the BGV procedure at our organization. Thank you.

Our company has tied up with a third-party employment verification agency to conduct background checks on new joiners related to their education and previous employment experience.

I believe it's beneficial to authorize such agencies to proceed with verification because they receive written communication regarding the authenticity of the documents submitted by candidates. Although it can take up to 2-3 weeks for a university/college to respond, especially when a candidate does not submit their degree, as most government universities do not reply without proof of the degree. In this case, chasing the new entrant to submit the degree as soon as possible becomes a priority. Many times, our agent complains that the previous employment check is pending because the concerned HR is not responding. Overall, it is a good process because, in the end, the representative submits a complete copy of the verification in a PDF file, mentioning the exact communication that took place between the two parties with dates and times mentioned.

The agency we partner with charges approximately Rs 1000-1500 per employee for verification services such as education, employment, physical address, database check, court procedures, and reference checks.

Thanks and Regards,
Akash Sharma