Akhbar & Associates is a Kuala Lumpur based private investigation agency that has conducted many background checks on potential hires for companies and found 5 per cent to 7 per cent of shortlisted candidates had fake degrees, while 10 per cent to 15 per cent had degrees from unaccredited universities.
In 2015, the New York Times reported that Axact, a Pakistani software company, had scooped millions of dollars worldwide from scams involving fake degrees, non-existent online universities and manipulation of customers.
Axact created large number of fake websites with bogus professors, students and 370 American universities that included Brooklyn Park University, Nixon University and Newford University.
Among those found to have purchased fake degrees was Myanmar’s former planning and finance minister Kyaw Win, who paid for a PhD from Brooklyn Park University.
In July 2018, Axact chief executive officer Shoaib Sheikh and 22 others in the fake degrees scam were sentenced by a Pakistani sessions court for a total of 20 years imprisonment each.
Earlier in 2013 and 2014, over 3,000 British citizens had purchased fake degrees from Axact.
The Pakistani authorities also found 80 recipients with Malaysian address in the list seized from Axact.
It is a wonder why many people are so dumb to pay good money for a fake certificate when they could easily copy or create one on their own.
One of the reasons why academic qualifications, be they genuine or fake, command high value is because many recruiters are unable to assess the quality of job applicants before their very eyes.
Another use for fake degrees is to stoke the ego by impressing others with high qualifications.
Many recruiters expediently treat certificates presented to them like passports for entry into their companies, particularly in organisations that display post-nominal letters after names of their management and staff.
Unless they are compulsory as in licensed professions, academic qualifications are mostly good for window dressing.
Understandably, tertiary institutions need a large pool of academics with impressive qualifications to draw students.
However, it is a different ballgame altogether in the business world where only performance counts. In the United States, academic qualification from one of the eight Ivy League universities may help to secure a top corporate job.
But other jobs around the world are more down to earth, as most people work in small and medium-sized enterprises that require good, honest and hardworking workers to do the job.
These staff are paid for their productivity, not academic qualifications which are personal history.
In Malaysia, I have set up seven medium-sized businesses for large corporations, including foreign-owned and government-linked companies.
My appointment was based on career track record and not academic qualifications, as I only studied up to Form Five.
Setting up new businesses include registering a private limited company, obtaining mandatory licences and credit lines, renting workspace and designing office, purchasing furniture and equipment, recruiting, training and developing staff to handle marketing, sales and operations.
Although I preferred graduates, I did not examine their certificates because other criteria are far more important than academic qualifications.
While nearly all employers value job experiences the most, I hired staff who has never worked in my sector.
This was because I was an industry expert, and in later years coached general managers in the same field, while providing consultancy service to industry associations and government agencies.
Initially, I did try to hire an experienced staff when I was asked to take charge of an additional business area and interviewed a candidate with 20 years’ experience from a competitor.
After interviewing her, I realised that my staff of two months were more knowledgeable than her.
It then dawned on me that the so-called 20-year experience may just be one month’s experience repeated 240 times.
My staff learned as I personally handled recruitment, gave them holistic training on marketing, sales and operations, and empowered them to develop their careers.
My stints in the seven companies were short, as I left after one to three years and allowed the staff that I have trained to take over the running of the business.
Some other staff left to set up and run their own companies successfully.
All these were made possible because I took in applicants with qualities far more important than academic qualifications and job experience.
They are attitude, which includes good character, and English proficiency needed for effective communication with international clientele.
I have interviewed thousands of job applicants and recruited hundreds of staff and have honed my skills in reading a person like a book.
I could probe into the interviewee’s mind and character by asking innocent sounding questions.
Although my staff acquired more industry-relevant knowledge and skills than others in the same business, it would not be possible if they were weak in English, as this language was used in training.
They must think, speak, read and write well in English in order to learn fast and deep.
But I could do little to change character and attitude. With personal development and mastery of English lacking in our education system, less than one per cent of job applicants were offered jobs by me.
Recruitment was a never-ending exercise as I needed to hire all the good candidates I can find. In 1997 for example, I placed job vacancy display advertisements in an English newspaper for 50 weeks, taking a break only during Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Puasa holidays.
With positive attitude, sound character, strong discipline, good habits, great communication skills and displaying courtesy, we steamrolled the competition.
The corporate culture was to strive for excellence and emerge victorious whenever we face-off with competitors.
As an Asean master trainer, I have given training to university professors including those with PhD, but I have never studied in a university.
In the companies that I have set up, I received hefty bonuses and four figure increments.
In business, only performance counts and companies can only keep growing if recruiters take in the right talents based on how fast they can learn, innovate and contribute to the organisation.
In a fast-changing world, most of what was learned are quickly outdated.
But if academic qualifications are treated like passports for entry into an organisation, gatekeepers should attach a limited stay “visa” and issue “permanent residency” only to those who have proven their mettle in the real world of business. But oversight allowed many to overstay.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
