Powerchex is a UK based pre-employment screening company specialising in the financial services sector in the City of London.Powerchex is a full member of the UK chapter of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners or NAPBS, and was started by Alexandra Kelly in 2005 who is the current MD and full owner of the company.

In 2007, Powerchex won 3 awards at the Thames Gateway Business Awards, including the 'Growth Business', 'Business of the Year', with Kelly scooping 'Business Person of the Year'. Powerchex also won the 'Service Business of the Year' award at the Natwest Start-up Awards 2007. In 2008 Powerchex was awarded the NatWest Thames Gateway Business of Year. In 2009, the company won the DBC & East London Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award.

Research

Every year Powerchex commissions the Shell Technology and Enterprise Programme to conduct market research into trends in applicant fraud. The 2007 research discovered that 89% of undisclosed criminal records are found on the CV of temps and that overall, discrepancies on CVs have fallen by 18% from 31% in 2005/2006 to 13% in 2006/2007. The findings were published in the national press including The Guardian.

In the 2008 research , Powerchex found that 43% of applicants from the UK’s lowest ranking universities had some form of major embellishment hidden on their application, compared to just 14% of applicants from the Top 20 rated schools. It also found that maths and science graduates are more honest than arts graduates, who have a particularly high rate of major embellishment. The findings were published in the national press including the Financial Times, The Times,The Daily Telegraph, and BBC News Online.

The 2009 research, of nearly 5,000 job applications in the financial sector, found a continued increase in candidates lying on their CVs since the beginning of the recession. Nearly one in 5 applicants now had a major lie on their CV. It also found that young graduates had the largest increase, 29%, in the number of lying applicants. The findings were reported on television on the BBC News, followed by an interview with Powerchex Managing Director Alexandra Kelly, as well as in national papers including The Times and The Guardian.

Further reading

• "Powerchex Annual Survey 2008"
• "A Degree of Creativity" in Financial Times (July 21, 2008)
• "The week in work:July 24" in TimesOnline (July 24, 2008)
• "Arts graduates 'more likely to lie on CVs' in The Daily Telegraph (21 July 2008)
• "Some Students Tell More CV Lies" in BBC News Online (July 21, 2008)
• "Honesty in the City? Well just on CVs in The Guardian (August 4, 2007)
• "Beware the pitfalls of a dodgy reference", Recruiter Magazine (October 21, 2005)
• "Truth of fiction", Management Issue (August 18, 2005)
• "Firms 'sloppy at vetting staff", Business Europe (August 16, 2005)
• "Implementing an effective screening policy"

See also

• Background Check
• Criminal record check
• Security clearance
• Vetting
• Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance
• Recruitment
• Human Resources

References

1. Powerchex Joins the National Association of professional background Screeners
2. Docklands Company Scores Hat-trick at Thames Gateway Business Awards
3. Powerchex are scooping awards whilst boosting the UK economy
4. DBC/ELCC Business Awards and Gala Dinner 2009
5. Money Guardian
6. The Powerchex Annual Survey on CV Discrepancies 2008
7. A Degree of Creativity
8. The week in work: July 24
9. Arts graduates 'more likely to lie on CVs'
10. some students tell more CV lies
11. CV Lying is on the increase
12. Under-21s told 29% more lies on job applications this year than last