If you are a hiring manager, you may be aware of the recent concern about fake degrees. These degrees often come from diploma mills, or online producers of fake degrees. If an employee of your firm has purchased a degree from a site like this, it can decrease your company’s credibility and tarnish your reputation. So what should you look for if you are suspicious of a potential fake degree?

Check the dates of the employee’s degrees. Often times fake degrees will not add up in terms of timing. It usually takes three to four years for an undergraduate degree, one or two years for a master’s degree, and even longer to earn a doctorate. The dates on fake degrees are often too close together. According to the United States Federal Trade Commission, “A degree earned in a very short time, or several degrees listed for the same year, are warning signs for the hiring official or the person doing the preliminary screening.”

Check the sequence of the degrees.  The traditional sequence is as follows: high school, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral or other advanced degrees. You typically cannot earn a master’s without a bachelor’s, or a master’s before a bachelor’s, so an out of sequence degree should be a red flag for a hiring manager.

The location of the school where a degree was obtained should make sense. For example, if an employee claims to have worked full time in New York while obtaining a degree in Texas, that could be a sign of a diploma mill. However, before accusing someone with a location concern, be careful to check to see if the degree was obtained online while the employee was working.

When in doubt, look at the school. Some diploma mills use similar sounding names to real schools. Use your resources to search the name of the school to see if it is correct and you can always contact the school for degree verification. Remember that fake degrees will often look great at first glance, but the fine details may be suspicious. Check for official seals, mistakes on the degree, or improper language on the degree.

Although most people in your office do have real degrees from real schools, fake degrees are out there. It does not take that much time or effort to verify a degree, and it is usually worth the extra check.

Have you ever encountered someone with a fake degree? Tell us about it!