Employers often ask job candidates for their transcripts (official or unofficial). How can employers truly verify that what you have submitted is in fact real? Will they send your transcript to the university for them to verify?

It seems to me that the only way to verify academic records would be to send the copy of the transcript they submitted to the university for verification.

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    Welcome to academia.SE and thanks for your post. I've edited your answer and title a bit to clarify what you're asking -- please feel free to make further edits if I missed anything. (Also, this question may be more appropriate for workplace.SE, but I'll let others decide whether to move it). – cag51 May 6 '18 at 17:21
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    In some cases, they do not verify it. But then later if it turns out to be falsified, you can be fired because of that. – GEdgar May 6 '18 at 21:25
  • My experience is that most don't. They say they will, then when faced with the actual task they either balk at the cost or simply lack the mental acuity to negotiate the application process. – Valorum May 6 '18 at 23:54

This can be done in any number of ways depending on the country and the employer:

  • The employer might tell you to get the university to mail them a sealed envelope with the transcript
  • The employer might ask you to grant them guest/view access to your online student records (depending on the Student Information System at your university)
  • The employer might ask you to send an electronically verified copy of the transcript (through a service like the National Student Clearinghouse in the U.S.)
  • The employer might call the university and ask them to confirm particular information (e.g. the GPA and a couple of randomly selected grades -- this was what my former employer did)
  • The employer might mail a copy of the transcript to the university as you suggested

In short, unless you know an employer's procedures, assume that they will find some way of verifying the information, either directly or with your help. Not complying with a request to verify the transcript after securing an offer (when a decent chunk of money is on the line) would look extremely suspicious and be grounds for withdrawing the offer in most jurisdictions.

  • In my experience, based on my former employment with an agency of the U.S. government, the fourth item -- the employer calls the applicant's university/college and asks for confirmation that the person attended (and, usually, graduated from) the institution during the period indicated by the applicant. Verification of such information is extremely common, and it is taken very seriously. – Mico May 7 '18 at 4:52
  • @Mico For U.S. schools, it's hard to get more than directory information (e.g. name, major, degrees conferred/in progress) over an informal phone call because of FERPA. In Europe, my experience has been that most universities will happily confirm more specific details over the phone so long as you provide enough info to establish that you're in possession of a copy of the transcript. – cigikath May 7 '18 at 11:53
  • @cigikath But now we have GDPR. – Vladimir F May 7 '18 at 12:46
  • NSC is working on expansion to high schools and going global, so soon that bullet may be the dominant answer here. Also, if I understand correctly, employers can pay for NSC’s verification services directly and can just ask applicants to sign permission to verify their academic record and query NSC directly. – Todd Wilcox May 7 '18 at 12:47

If you've seen academic transcripts (example), they come with the university's crest and watermark. Accordingly they aren't easy to forge, and in my experience, the employer - or graduate admissions for that matter - simply accepts them at face value. Occasionally they might request a verified copy, in which case you take the transcript and get it signed by some authority, e.g. a lawyer or notary public or simply the university's student service center.

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    That example looks fantastically easy to forge from scratch. It looks even easier to bump a couple of grades. Having said which, in the UK I can't remember anyone ever asking to see evidence of my degree or school qualifications. – Martin Bonner supports Monica May 7 '18 at 9:55
  • I don't know about you but, I am always suspicious when the seal on the transcript says Microsoft when I look at it in the light. – Willtech May 7 '18 at 12:23

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