Hiring Pitfalls: The Bait and Switch Contractor

The Bait and Switch Contractor

A Dangerous Pitfall of Hiring Through a Third Party Recruiter

By Felicia Marsh, October 2, 2020

Is this even the same person?

Ever hire an employee or contractor and after a few weeks on the job, wonder if this is the same person that you spoke with during the interview?

They just don't seem to know as much as they did during the interview or are missing skills that you felt where there when you spoke before.

Or maybe they are not able to communicate at the same level as they did earlier and you just have this feeling you are not talking with the same person.

You may be the victim of a bait and switch.

Sadly, it really is a thing.

How it works.

You are presented with a superior candidate during an interview, in a manner that you can not easily identify the person you are speaking with. This person performs well and you feel like you hit the jackpot, so you negotiate a salary based on your experience with this person you spoke with.

But the person who shows up, the one you are actually paying for, is not nearly as skilled, or even knowledgeable about the job.

You are not alone.

Recently, where I worked, our IT group took in 2 such imposters. We fell prey twice before we figured out what was going on and changed how we screened potential hires.

Both times the candidate performed extremely well in multiple interviews, answering complex technical questions with confidence and great knowledge and acumen. After the individual was hired, the person who arrived to perform the work surprisingly possessed none of these qualities or the knowledge to do the job. A fact they were able to disguise briefly because of the on-boarding process, where they basically spent their first week sequestered with stacks of training material.

From discussions with colleagues in other groups, this is a particular problem in technical fields and especially prevalent in IT where it is not uncommon to hire someone without ever meeting them face to face.

Many times, the only assurance you have is a recruiter's word that they are who they say they are. And even when working with a recruiter you are familiar with, which was the case for one of the above hires, the candidate comes to them through another recruiting company or affiliate.

What the Farce!

How can this even be legal, you are wondering. It's not.

But the burden of proof lies with you to prove the imposter is not the person you interviewed or that they (the candidate and/or recruiters) intentionally deceived you. Not an easy task if you didn't take measures to concretely identify the person early in the hiring process.

And, while the cost to the company may seem like a lot to you, more often than not, the loss is usually not significant enough for most companies to be willing to bear the expense or resources it would cost to pursue restitution or reimbursement, even with solid evidence of the fraud.

What to do?

So how do you determine if the person you are interviewing is the person who will actually show up for the job?

Well, the obvious answer would be to always require an in person interview. It would be exceedingly difficult to pull the wool over your eyes if you actually see the person physically answer the questions you ask.  However, this is not always feasible, particularly if your search for qualified candidates is far-reaching, such as nationwide or internationally.

In these cases, do your due diligence, approach the candidates defensibly, and hopefully make any potential con artists think twice.  Here are a couple suggestions that can lessen the risk.

1. Insist on a video conference interview.

Get them in front of a camera.

And make sure you are watching the candidate as they answer the questions instead of being distracted by other tasks so you can be sure that they are actually the one speaking.

Watch for clues that there might be a coach off camera feeding them answers. Take notes of their answers so that you can ask about them later.

2. Request picture identification for the interview.

Having a name attached to a face is invaluable when ascertaining if you are meeting the person you interviewed. It also eliminates potential errors in communication of who you will be hiring if you have an ID to verify who you are speaking to. However, this is only helpful if you are able to lay eyes on the candidate during the interview.

3. Communicate directly with the candidate when possible.

If you are not able to connect with the candidate visually during the interview process communicate with the candidate directly when possible in order to develop a feel for their behavior and who they are. Be sure to ask questions about unique situations they may have encountered and what they did to resolve them; questions that another person may not be able to answer with as much detail.

Ask personal questions (just be sure they are legal) that would bring out their things like their interests or hobbies, things that you could normally identify about your other co-workers. Things like Joe's love of a certain football team and all the sport paraphernalia he collects, or June's love of llamas and the artwork she displays in her cube.  

This makes it easier to tell when something is different about the person who shows up to work at the office on day one with a couple of ice breaker questions about things they may have mentioned, like football or llamas.

4. Revisit the interview before on-boarding.

Once you have hired someone (or if you were unable to connect with the candidate visually), make sure to revisit the questions you asked in the interview before the on-boarding process begins. Compare their answers to your notes until you feel confident this is the person you spoke with. Taking the time to do this saves days worth of training and expense.

5. Check with your legal department.

Check with your legal department.  See what policies your company may have to address these types of scenarios in your contracts with recruiters and/or contractors. Pointing out these items and their penalties while discussing the contract with the recruiter and the new hire prior to agreeing to hiring someone may deter any malefactor from proceeding with signing on.

In essence, take every opportunity to get to know the candidate and communicate expectations and company policies.

The idea is to maintain awareness and protect yourself without unfairly projecting suspicion on a candidate.

Happy Hiring!