When thinking about a gap analysis and going through the recruitment process, CVs are typically crucial pieces of information to you as an employer. Not only does it give you background information about your potential candidates, it can also give you an insight into the personality of the person you are hiring.

Volunteering experience can give you valuable information about what matters to this candidate, previous experience will highlight their skills and commitment, their grades can indicate whether they are suitable for the job advertised, and their personal statement can speak volumes about their personality.

However, studies have proven that a lot of CVs are not as accurate as many employers might hope. In fact, it has been found that as many as 80% of CVs are inaccurate, meaning that you may end up hiring a candidate who is not suitable for an available role. This is why it’s important to perform an external gap analysis check to unearth any discrepancies or employment gaps.

What is an Employment Gap?

 
Essentially an employment gap is a space of time unaccounted for between jobs. Many of us may have small gaps in our professional careers – a lot of the time it’s pretty normal, especially if you change jobs or decide to pursue a different career direction.

A short gap between longer terms of employment is not usually regarded as much to worry about for the majority of companies. After all, we are all human. Anything more than a few months tends to be regarded as more of a problem gap that needs to be looked into. However, if it’s over a year, this tends to be a cause for concern.

Why Are Employment Gaps a Concern?

 
Naturally, a gap in employment can make you suspicious of a candidate as you start to wonder what they were doing during this time of unemployment.

You want candidates who are positive, can utilise their time and can highlight what they have done during this time. If they have nothing to show for this period, it can give you a bad impression about their work ethic and overall personal drive.

However, gaps may be problematic due to a criminal conviction or a job where something went wrong and led to termination. Of course, a gap may be completely innocent and involve career breaks for various personal reasons, time out to travel, maternity leave or problems with illness. This is why it’s always important to check this with a gap analysis specialist during your recruitment process.

How Does Gap Analysis work?

 
Here at CBS, we don’t accept CVs as evidence of past employment. Candidates are given an account where they can login and fill in their employment history in an online application form. They are then asked to confirm this information.

From this, all personal data, company history and employment dates are checked and validated by us. Any issues will be discussed with the candidate and information will then be returned to you, the employer.

How Will Performing a Gap Analysis Benefit You?

 
Every person that you bring into your business has to be right for the job. By performing a gap analysis, you are able to ensure that your candidate is seriously interested in the role by reviewing their prior experience, performance and qualifications.

Longer gaps can also instigate the question, why won’t anyone hire this person? It may highlight conflicts with a previous employer or a criminal history. A gap analysis will give you more information as to what happened during this time and will allow you to make a more informed decision. Most importantly, it will also increase the accuracy of information you are provided by candidates due to the process of our checks.
 

Let Us Do the Background Work for You

 
Employment history can be the holy grail of information when going through the hiring process and it is obviously your first introduction to a candidate and their experience. Therefore, you need to make sure that information provided is validated and undergoes a gap analysis as part of employment screening to clarify any information that may have been excluded or altered in order to give you the highest level of accuracy.

If you want more information about gap analysis or if you want to know how we can help your business, please contact us about employment history checks today.