Degrees, degrees and fake degrees

The job of HR a few decades ago was pretty straight forward when vetting through the qualifications and CVs of a job applicant. In that piece of paper that the applicant submitted, you could practically verify everything with a few phone calls. But most of the time it was unnecessary as very few would dare to submit fake resumes for fear of the law and being discovered. It was so easy to find out the truth. The schools, the universities, the teachers, the references could be know to the HR or could easily be traced. After a simple process of verification of the certificates, an applicant could be hired based on what he has submitted.
 
When the door was thrown wide open to the world, in comes a deluge of snakes, scorpions, crocodiles and worms and the HR has a problem they never knew before. Was the govt, the HR and the system prepared and ready to face the world of fakes and cheats or compromised half baked education systems and degree mills?
 
The problem has exploded right in our face. In fact it exploded the moment the foreigners came in but everyone was in a state of denial. How to check on the quality of the education systems, the universities, schools, the grades when everyone appears to come from another planet and sounded like one? It was so easy to think that their systems are just as rigid and proper as ours, their standards were just as high as ours, their gradings as stringent as ours. Of course now we know a degree is not just a degree, an university is not just an university and a referee, testimonial, can all be faked or bought.
 
Now we are setting up agencies with foreigners to check on foreigners who knew how to buy their way out and would have not problem buying the checkers out. Did we foresee the problems then, before opening our doors? With the exposure of more and more fakes, the disease is deep inside us, seeped into every little nooks and corners of our systems like bed bugs, ringworms, tape worms, viruses and bacteria, everywhere.



Can we afford to live with them or is there a need to flush them out? The easy way of is to pretend all is fine. Where got problem? Prove to me lah, show me proof lah. If you can’t then don’t anyhow say. See, no problems right?
 
Oh, HR, please ask the applicants which degree or job references should be ignored, not to count, just for décor purposes in the CVs and which are genuine and to be counted. See, so easy to solve. QED. Just pretend or believe everyone is a talent will do. Or nevermind, just hire them and see if they can work. If can work good oredy. No need to bother about the degrees and testimonials and whether they are real or unreal.



PS. How to verify testimonials and recommendations from so and so of good work performance? Anyone wants to rely on such craps from crappy countries renowned for fakes and cheating?