How do businesses looking for Salesforce talent tell the difference between a quality candidate and a “catfish”?
In this latest piece in our What’s New in Salesforce? series, we have revived and updated an article we published in 2017 to reflect the changed Salesforce landscape of 2022. We offer our insight and perspectives on today’s Salesforce hiring market and talent pool to help companies overcome their hiring challenges now and better plan for the future.
What is a “Catfish Candidate”?
The tech industry experiences more than their fair share of unqualified or deceptive candidates, and Salesforce is no exception. When such a person makes it through the interview process, the company spends months onboarding and training them only to end up with sub-par work and the complicated matter of ending the employment relationship.
Here are some of the ways fake candidates deceive companies:
- Embellish resumes to the breaking point to appear more senior than they are
- Recite buzzwords during an interview to appear more impressive
- Inaccurately report certifications in progress as completed or fabricate certifications entirely
- Exaggerate experience on past projects to pass off more skilled workers’ contributions as their own
- Have more skilled people pose as them in interviews with hiring mangers
- Impersonate someone else hired to fill a role
How do they get away with this?
Deceiving a business in these ways ranges from highly unethical to illegal. The issue stems from companies who are unfamiliar with Salesforce, or not familiar enough, not using the right resources to find Salesforce talent.
A company cannot be efficient at everything. A company’s own hiring resources go about hiring without a certain depth of understanding of the platforms and tools. Not knowing what questions to ask or what red flags to look for from a candidate sets a company up for failure in hiring Salesforce professionals. These businesses and smaller operations are prime targets for fake candidates who know that there is little to no screening to prevent them from pulling off their scam.
Many Salesforce staffing firms operating in the sector do not have a fool-proof system in place to prevent fake candidates from making their way to interviews. This is further problematic because Salesforce professionals who are actually qualified and present themselves accurately are mixed in with the catfish when working with some agencies.
How does a company avoid fake Salesforce candidates?
Our Salesforce Job Market Report 2022-2023 is a great resource for hiring managers to get a look at the current market landscape and access expert industry insights for 2023.
Another pro tip: work with a top tier specialty Salesforce staffing firm, like us! This is the most effective way to reduce or eliminate the potential for catfish candidates. Computer Futures has a thorough process for vetting candidates that most other tech staffing firms do not.
Computer Futures accreditation process
Telephone Screening
Our Salesforce recruitment consultants are deeply familiar with the Salesforce job market and the various skillets that quantify a quality candidate. In an extensive first conversation, we cover the candidate’s current work, recent work, certifications, business solutions provided, project outcomes, day-to-day activities, and logistics around a project.
Meeting
Whether virtual or in-person, our account managers and recruitment consultants meet with a candidate to determine compatibility in several areas for our clients. Some of the important factors are culture contribution, communication, professionalism, and credibility.
Technical skills test
With our experience and resources, we conduct a thorough assessment of technical competence for each Salesforce function. A passed skills test and the ability to answer tough questions on the latest Salesforce technology prove ability from a candidate.
References check
Computer Futures requires a minimum of two employer references to be called upon for a testimonial, and digital verification of past employment. Most of our candidates come as referrals from our network of other high-performing candidates, bolstering their recommendations for our clients. Additionally, we offer full background checks, drug testing, work authorization checks, and all professional insurances.
