The global hiring process has evolved considerably over the years, but one consistent challenge remains: verifying the authenticity of candidate credentials. As other technologies have advanced, verifying career credentials has been mostly static. While delivery methods have evolved, from paper, to fax, to email to LinkedIn, the data is largely the same – self-reported and unverifiable.
The burden of ensuring the data provided by candidates accurately expresses their experience and skills has been a major point of friction and inefficiency for employers across the global labor market. As candidates gain access to more advanced digital tools that can falsify qualifications, this problem has only grown more complex
In regulated sectors—such as the healthcare, finance, and legal industries— in particular, the cost of hiring the wrong person can be immense, both financially and reputationally. This makes the process of validating credentials more critical than ever.
However, traditional solutions, such as background checks and verification processes, are often slow, expensive, and prone to human error.
The Trust Issue in the Global Labor Market
Organizations are no longer confined to sourcing talent from their local regions; instead, they have access to a broader talent pool across countries and continents. While this global reach opens a wealth of possibilities, it also presents significant challenges in terms of verifying the authenticity of a candidate’s background.
AI tools, resume generators, and fake diploma services have made it easier than ever to create fabricated or overly enhanced credentials.
Employers regularly report receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes for a position. All appear to be qualified candidates with backgrounds tailor-made for the opening. Employers know this can’t be true, but separating the truly qualified candidates from those who plugged the job description into an AI platform and asked for the perfect resume is nearly impossible.
The current system of verification relies heavily on manual processes, background checks, and third-party services, all of which are time-consuming, expensive, and can lead to errors. Background checks can sometimes take weeks or more, and in the meantime the job remains unfilled.
The Cost of Mistakes
The cost of making hiring mistakes can be catastrophic. In healthcare, a nurse or doctor with falsified credentials can have a direct impact on patient safety. In finance, hiring a person without proper qualifications could result in fraud or violations of financial regulations. Even in non-regulated industries, missteps in hiring can result in costly turnover, loss of client trust, and damage to reputation.
With the consequences of errors so significant, there is a growing need for a more secure, reliable, and scalable solution to verify the credentials of job candidates.
A Better Solution - Verifiable Credentials
Enter Verifiable Credentials (VCs), a powerful tool that has the potential to eliminate the risks and inefficiencies of traditional background checks.
What are Verifiable Credentials?
A VC is a digital statement issued by an authoritative primary source (like a university, government, or licensing body) and cryptographically signed to ensure its authenticity. These credentials allow the holder to share specific, verifiable information with employers or other organizations in a secure and trusted manner.
Revolutionizing Talent Acquisition
VCs promise to streamline the entire talent acquisition process, making it faster, more secure, and less expensive. Here’s how:
Faster Verification Process
With VCs, organizations can verify the qualifications and credentials of candidates without spending weeks chasing down references. Verification takes seconds, reducing time-to-hire and making the entire recruitment process more agile.
Improved Accuracy and Reliability
Unlike traditional methods, where human error and fraud are significant risks, VCs are cryptographically secured, ensuring that the information is legitimate. This guarantee of accuracy and authenticity gives employers confidence they are hiring qualified individuals.
Cost Savings
Between the time spent by HR staff and the fees paid to third-party agencies, traditional background checks and verification processes can be costly.
VCs eliminate the cost of manually verifying static information such as past employment and education and semi-static information such as licenses. This is particularly beneficial for organizations hiring large numbers of candidates and/or operating in global markets.
Security and Privacy
VCs, when self-sovereign and utilizing blockchain technology, ensure the individual’s data is secure, tamper-proof, and resistant to fraud. Candidates control exactly what information they share and when, adding an additional layer of privacy protection.
The Infrastructure is Already in Place
The infrastructure for VCs is already in place and growing rapidly. More and more organizations, including providers of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), and Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), are integrating VC technology into their solutions.
Where these integrations exist, organizations can digitally verify the qualifications, education, and experience of candidates with ease.
For instance, employers can issue digital credentials of employment to current and former employees directly from their HRIS system and completion of a learning program from their LMS.
Organizations can also receive credentials from applicants directly into their ATS and accept relevant learning an employee has completed outside of work into their LMS – all standardized, human and machine-readable, and instantly verifiable.
By replacing unverifiable paper letters or PDFs, organizations can have a better sense of not only who they hire, but also of the proficiencies and skills of their own workforce.
One of the key benefits of VCs is that they can be set up in a self-sovereign model to give control back to the individual. Rather than relying on a centralized verification service, individuals store their verified credentials in a digital wallet and share them with employers as needed. This gives candidates greater ownership over their data, reduces the time spent filling out forms, and allows them to securely prove their qualifications without worrying about inaccuracies or falsehoods.
As leading HR tech vendors rapidly adopt VC technology, trust and interoperability frameworks are leading the charge in implementing decentralized, blockchain-based protocols for the benefit of the entire industry.
These public utilities allow job seekers to collect, store, and share their verifiable credentials with potential employers seamlessly. Several bodies are working to create an open standard for VCs, ensuring that they are interoperable across platforms and industries.
A Requirement for the Future of Hiring
Given the growing importance of accurate, trustworthy information in the hiring process, organizations should prioritize the use of VCs. The ability to digitally verify the qualifications and background of candidates in seconds, while ensuring the integrity and privacy of their data, represents a significant leap forward in talent acquisition.
As an HR professional, now is the time to ask whether your ATS, LMS, or HRIS vendor supports VCs. If not, it may be worth considering this as a requirement when choosing new software. Asking whether the vendor plans to integrate VCs can ensure that your organization is ahead of the curve and equipped with the tools to verify credentials in a secure and efficient manner.
The adoption of Verifiable Credentials is not just a passing trend—it is the future of talent acquisition. With more employers, job seekers, and technology providers adopting this approach, the HR industry is poised for a significant digital transformation.
The result will be a world where the trustworthiness of a candidate’s qualifications is no longer in question, where hiring decisions are based on verified data rather than self-reported and unsubstantiated claims, and where organizations can confidently hire the best talent.
Conclusion
The growing need for trusted, verifiable data in the talent acquisition process cannot be overstated.
The reliance on traditional background checks and manual verification is costly, inefficient, and prone to errors. The introduction of VCs offers a solution that not only streamlines the hiring process but also ensures the information employers rely on is accurate and secure.
By embracing this technology, organizations can reduce the risk of bad hires, improve the candidate experience, and make smarter, faster hiring decisions. As the infrastructure for VCs becomes more widely available, now is the time to consider how this revolutionary technology can transform your talent acquisition and retention strategy.
