In only two hours The Courier-Mail was approved for degrees in forensic medicine, fine arts and engineering, while being granted doctorates in oceanography, mathematics and corporate law. Picture: Renee Nowytarger � Source: The Australian
A fake degree from Springfield University. Picture: The Courier-Mail Source: The Courier-Mail
AUSTRALIANS are applying for jobs using dodgy degrees they earn online in a matter of minutes.
Websites offering instant degrees, certificates and doctorates in everything from law to accounting have multiplied in the past year and experts warn brave applicants are rolling the dice when applying for the job of their dreams.
Background screening firm First Advantage conducts 400 background checks a day and says a third highlight an "area of concern" for a potential employer.
More than 35 per cent of those relate to educational qualifications whether it be embellished grades or institutions that simply don't exist.
There is estimated to be more than 5000 "diploma mills" on the web, with sales reaching into the millions.
In only two hours yesterday, The Courier-Mail was approved for degrees in forensic medicine, fine arts and engineering, while being granted doctorates in oceanography, mathematics and corporate law.
Bachelors degrees cost from $122, while doctorates peaked at $177. Degree certificates are mailed to "graduates" within five days, complete with congratulatory letters.
But First Advantage spokeswoman Kylie Bent says sketchy job applicants are exposed weekly.
"If a degree can be awarded within months, it is likely not a registered qualification," Ms Bent said.
"Accredited institutions will generally have .edu domains and only recognise course work or research assignments instead of 'life experience'."
She said legitimate institutions generally have physical contact addresses instead of just relying on email.
Bond University Pro Vice-Chancellor of Quality Assurance Professor Raoul Mortley said there was a strong accreditation regime in Australia regulating to the use of the word "university".
"You can't use the word here unless you have the authority from the Government," Prof Mortley said.
"But if you're seeing qualifications from overseas that's when you have to be careful.
"(Employers) can be taken in if they don't know the university scene very well."
One particularly notorious institution offering instant degrees The Trinity College and University is registered in Delaware in the US but run from Spain.
Requests for comment went unanswered.
First Advantage verifications manager Jonathan Hart said several job candidates had also recently been caught exaggerating their qualifications.
"For example, I've seen a couple of candidates who have stated they had diploma or certificate III qualification, but who had only completed certain modules and not the entire course," Mr Hart said.
"The best example I've seen was where the candidate claimed to have attended Harvard University, which is arguably the best business school in the world.
"However, the candidate had actually attended a course organised by a legitimate online institution, which had an association with Harvard Business School Publishing for course content, but not delivery a significantly different outcome."
Chat about this story w/ Talkita
0 comments:
Post a Comment