Providing Certificates of Education

[Gary_Jones]

Hi All!

Off the bench and back in the UK after an 18 month break , I've now won a contract with an Indian company, providing services to a UK client ! (ah the joys of outsourcing!).

I'm on the client site now, but the procedure to get here has been pretty unique!

So far I have provided loads of sensitive information, like dob, Mother's maiden name, utility bill, birth certificate, passport, etc(at much suspicion).

In 12 years I've never been asked to provide quite so much information, but this most recent request is baffling me.

"We need to see your certificates of education"

I graduated 12 years ago from Uni, but they also mean my secondary school certs!

Has anyone ever been asked for these? I'm not lying about my qualifications, I've always assumed employers can check with the institutions themselves?

I have absolutely no idea where my uni certificates are, let alone secondary school

Think I might just say its impossible to provide them, anyone else had to provide these?

[Paddy]

Hi All!

Off the bench and back in the UK after an 18 month break , I've now won a contract with an Indian company, providing services to a UK client ! (ah the joys of outsourcing!).

I'm on the client site now, but the procedure to get here has been pretty unique!

So far I have provided loads of sensitive information, like dob, Mother's maiden name, utility bill, birth certificate, passport, etc(at much suspicion).

In 12 years I've never been asked to provide quite so much information, but this most recent request is baffling me.

"We need to see your certificates of education"

I graduated 12 years ago from Uni, but they also mean my secondary school certs!

Has anyone ever been asked for these? I'm not lying about my qualifications, I've always assumed employers can check with the institutions themselves?

I have absolutely no idea where my uni certificates are, let alone secondary school

Think I might just say its impossible to provide them, anyone else had to provide these?

Sounds more like a permie position. In any event by providing copies of all that information you are leaving yourself open for identity theft on a big scale.

All my certificates and personal items were stolen years ago when my house was burgled ant the complete filing cabinet was taken.

[jmo21]

Even in all the permie jobs I ever had before contracting, I was never once asked to prove any of my qualifications.

For a contract, this is incredibly extreme.

[Gary_Jones]

thanks for the posts - yes I completely agree, and will not be worrying too much about the certs.

However on the identify theft thing I think it worth mentioning, that my specialism is data protection and although a major problem years ago - it is extremely difficult to be seriously stung by identity theft as most documents have to be originals.

Someone could go buy a car from Jack at the local garage, but it would be Jack who loses the car in the end, not me money.

I think its a sorry state of affairs, but when dealing with developing countries, they demand this stuff because of the amount of fraudsters out there.

I was initially really really cautious and waited until I'd fully checked the client, spoke to the client - checked companies house listings for the UK side, paid for company information etc ... I'm pleased tho that I did progress and provide the documents as its won a high quality contract with a high quality client.

It's good to be suspicious but some people can be a little overboard - "im not providing my passport or company cert of incorporation" , if they are copies its no good as ID - and is a legal requirement in most countries to form B2B relationships when providing services to a client in a specific country other than your own.

Update : said it was an unusual request and they are probably able to check with the institutions directly - response was "Apologize for asking for certificate" . Just wanted to check with the vets on here before getting obstructive

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[Tarquin Farquhar]

It's not uncommon for a permanent job in continental Europe. I've never heard of it in the UK for a contract.

I don't understand why birth certificate and passport. ISTM that passport proves ID (anddob), and utility bill proves residence.

Mother's maiden name is highly questionable. I'd be tempted to give them a name different from the one I use for security questions. Come to that, Photoshop can quite simply alter the digits on the passport number on a copy. Or so I have heard.

OK as long as it's people you know and trust, from a country with a good record of data security.

[Olly]

I was asked for all that for a gig at Lloyds and the recruiter told me it was just for a CRB check!
Of course he was wrong (Square One).
Anyway...no harm in digging out the certs if it keeps them happy, no idea where my school ones are though!
It's presumably because they're geared up to employ Indians where all this stuff could be relevant as due diligence / visa control faff.

Wonderful isn't it...that there are £400 a day jobs available from Indian out sourcers and there's a UK recruitment agency leech in there too.

Where did it all go so wrong.

[Gary_Jones]

Oly you just said in 1 paragraph what it took me 3 to say

Regarding the outsourcing position, though it is indeed mad - its the corporate world we live in.

I think the nuts and bolts are , the company has to say it shopped for the best price , outsourcing looks like the cheapest, but ultimately you're only going to get high quality staff with the right to work in the E.U from the E.U !

It's far too much hassle for the outsourcer themselves to put people through visa applications..

The corporate world has really gone mad since the early 90's I reckon.

I've decided now to use linkedin and start just directly marketing to employers and hiring my own HR manager to set up a recruitment arm I've actually done this overseas, and won UK business :P insane.

[Paddy]

However on the identify theft thing I think it worth mentioning, that my specialism is data protection and although a major problem years ago - it is extremely difficult to be seriously stung by identity theft as most documents have to be originals.

Someone could go buy a car from Jack at the local garage, but it would be Jack who loses the car in the end, not me money.



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Totally disagree with that. Once a person has copies of documents; it is easy to get originals. Vehicle logbook is just one example. Also the more information some has on you, the easy it makes to answer so-called security questions. The question for resetting Internet banking passwords can easily be answered by information on copied everyday documents.

Regarding victims; if a thief buys a car in my name using a loan taken out on my name, that would cause me hassle for many years.

Identity thefts are on the increase, not decrease.

[stek]

Wonderful isn't it...that there are £400 a day jobs available from Indian out sourcers and there's a UK recruitment agency leech in there too.

Woo! Last time i got a sniff of an outsourced-source type role the (Indian) guy was looking to pay £120 a day for Sun IdM stuff. Even the agent was laughing...

Hopefully they're getting it now.....

[Gary_Jones]

The question for resetting Internet banking passwords can easily be answered by information on copied everyday documents.

They should be asking you for the last transaction, ideally the last 3. In this example case, they also need your IB username , phone number and sort and account code (possibly).

I'm not convinced that identity theft with major banks is on the increase - in fact my bank wouldn't let me withdraw 1000 yesterday, with my card and a driving licence - they made me go home and get my passport. Most annoying - I closed my account in fury at it.

like you said tho, getting cars etc, is pretty easy, but once you've reported it as a crime, you get everything sorted, its 1 call to experian.