AI can write the resume and coach the interview. How employers are answering candidate fraud.

Below the fold: Employers say they trust the resume less than almost any other signal, yet most hiring funnels still open with a resume screen. Ben Eubanks, chief research officer at Lighthouse Research and Advisory and author of Artificial Intelligence for HR, joins Maureen Lally to talk through what his research says about AI-written resumes, AI-coached interviews, and the evidence employers are moving to instead, from work samples to identity verification at the front door.

Top Q&A Takeaways: Resumes, Interviews & AI in Hiring

1. Are resumes still reliable?
A: Their value is declining. Ben’s research found only 1 in 3 employers are very confident a resume reflects a candidate’s true skills, while AI-generated resumes are becoming commonplace.

2. Is the traditional interview still effective?
A: Interviews remain useful, but AI coaching and deepfakes can make virtual interviews less reliable indicators of capability. Employers increasingly need evidence beyond the conversation.

3. What should employers trust instead?
A: Work samples, simulations, and practical exercises provide stronger evidence of whether someone can actually perform the job. 98% of companies surveyed said they trust something other than the resume most.

4. How can employers combat candidate fraud?
A: Ben identifies six areas: identity verification, interview integrity, background validation, digital-footprint checks, clear AI policies and hiring-manager training.

5. How is AI changing recruiting volume?
A: 92% of recruitment leaders say AI-generated resumes are commonplace, while 72% have seen application volume increase, making traditional resume screening more difficult.

6. What role should identity verification play?
A: Establishing that candidates are who they claim to be is becoming foundational, particularly for high-risk or high-consequence roles.

7. What will hiring trust depend on in the future?
A: Proven impact. Employers will increasingly need to validate identity, skills, work products and actual outcomes rather than relying on what candidates say on paper or during an interview.

Key Takeaway

As AI makes resumes and interviews easier to synthesize, hiring must move from claims to proof. The future of workforce trust rests on verifying who someone is and creating practical ways for candidates to demonstrate what they can actually do.

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This content is offered for informational purposes only. First Advantage is not a law firm, and this content does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Information in this may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.

Listeners, watchers and readers of this content should contact their own legal advisors concerning for their particular circumstance. No user of this content, should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information in this content. Only your individual attorney or legal advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, or user of this presentation and First Advantage.

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Erin Schroeder spent seventeen years inside staffing and contingent workforce, now having left the industry she can speak to it from a different perspective. Trust in a workforce gets established once and rarely revisited, and she’s watched what that costs across three places: identities that stop matching the person working, systems that drift from the policies describing them, and accommodation requests that quietly stop being made.

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Top 8 Q&A Takeaways: Staffing, Identity, AI, and the Future of Work

1. How has the staffing industry changed over the last 17 years?
A: Staffing has evolved from paper-based, in-person hiring to technology-driven recruiting, onboarding, and workforce management. Technology has increased speed and scale but also introduced new risks.

2. What's the biggest lesson about technology in hiring?
A: Technology improves efficiency, but it isn't foolproof. Companies must continually verify that automated processes are working as intended instead of assuming the technology is always right.

3. What did Erin's "two sisters" case reveal?
A: Identity verification doesn't end at onboarding. Employers must ensure the person who was screened is the same person performing the work throughout the employment lifecycle.

4. How is AI changing hiring?
A: AI now supports job searches, scheduling, interviewing, screening, and candidate evaluation. In many cases, AI is helping candidates apply while employers use AI to assess them.

5. Where does AI work best?
A: Administrative and repeatable tasks such as scheduling, interview preparation, candidate communications, and research. Human judgment remains essential for hiring decisions.

6. What are the risks of AI in hiring?
A: AI can unintentionally introduce bias, misinterpret behaviors, and create challenges for neurodivergent or nervous candidates. Human oversight remains critical.

7. What responsibility do employers have?
A: Employers must verify identity, work authorization, and workforce safety throughout the employee lifecycle. As deepfakes and AI become more sophisticated, continuous verification becomes increasingly important.

Final Key Takeaway
Technology should strengthen human judgment, not replace it. The most successful organizations will combine AI, identity verification, and automation with critical thinking, human oversight, and ongoing validation of trust. As hiring becomes increasingly digital, the challenge is no longer just finding talent, but continuously ensuring the right person is doing the work.

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About First Advantage

First Advantage delivers employment background screening, identity verification, and workforce solutions that help organizations manage risk, improve hiring efficiency, and create trusted workplaces worldwide.

For more content on Background Checks and Identity Solutions visit:

Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/background-checks
Criminal Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/criminal-background-checks
Identity Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions/identity-solutions
All Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions

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This content is offered for informational purposes only. First Advantage is not a law firm, and this content does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Information in this may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.

Listeners, watchers and readers of this content should contact their own legal advisors concerning for their particular circumstance. No user of this content, should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information in this content. Only your individual attorney or legal advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, or user of this presentation and First Advantage.

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The trust and safety playbook was written inside a handful of giant platforms, and almost nobody works at one. Chad Dennis spent a decade across Lime, Instacart, Gopuff and DoorDash, and now leads driver and fleet operations at Fetii, a group rideshare company in Austin. In this episode, Chad Dennis argues the question was never whether you can afford what the giants have. It is which parts of it were ever the point.

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1. How has trust and safety changed for smaller gig platforms?
A: AI, identity verification, and screening technology have made enterprise-level trust and safety capabilities accessible to smaller companies, allowing them to build strong onboarding and risk programs without massive teams.

2. What remains the foundation of workforce trust?
A: Identity verification, background screening, and continuous monitoring remain critical. The goal isn't just determining who a worker is at onboarding, but ensuring they remain trusted throughout their lifecycle on the platform.

3. What are today's biggest fraud threats?
A: Account takeover attempts, phishing attacks, impersonation scams, and increasingly sophisticated social engineering tactics. Fraudsters are becoming more knowledgeable about how platforms operate and are designing attacks accordingly.

4. How do smaller platforms balance speed, cost, and risk?
A: Smaller marketplaces have greater flexibility to invest in deeper verification and more individualized reviews. This allows them to prioritize safety while still scaling responsibly.

5. Where is the gig economy heading next?
A: The future will likely include more specialized and regional marketplaces supported by modern onboarding, verification, and moderation tools. Chad also sees potential for portable identity verification and background screening that could follow workers across platforms.

Key Takeaway

Trust and safety is no longer reserved for the largest platforms. Modern verification, screening, and fraud-prevention tools allow companies of any size to build safer marketplaces from day one. The most successful platforms will treat trust as a growth strategy, using safety-by-design principles to attract higher-quality workers, strengthen user confidence, and create sustainable long-term growth.

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About First Advantage

First Advantage delivers employment background screening, identity verification, and workforce solutions that help organizations manage risk, improve hiring efficiency, and create trusted workplaces worldwide.

For more content on Background Checks and Identity Solutions visit:

Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/background-checks
Criminal Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/criminal-background-checks
Identity Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions/identity-solutions
All Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions

============================
Connect with us!
============================

Check out our full site: https://fadv.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-advantage
Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/FirstAdvantage
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/first_advantage
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FirstAdvantage1

__________________________

This content is offered for informational purposes only. First Advantage is not a law firm, and this content does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Information in this may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.

Listeners, watchers and readers of this content should contact their own legal advisors concerning for their particular circumstance. No user of this content, should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information in this content. Only your individual attorney or legal advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, or user of this presentation and First Advantage.

© First Advantage

Spencer Chee works with platforms and marketplaces on how they verify and monitor the people working for them, and built worker onboarding inside a major US delivery platform before that. On where operational, trust & safety and brand priorities actually meet; what changed in five years as falsified identities became good enough to beat controls that used to hold, and why reputation is the one thing a platform cannot toggle back.

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Top 10 Q&A Takeaways from the Episode

1. What is the biggest challenge gig economy platforms face?
Balancing supply and demand while ensuring enough qualified workers are available to meet customer needs safely and efficiently.

2. How has background screening evolved?
Background checks have shifted from a one-time compliance requirement to a customizable risk-management tool that helps organizations make better workforce decisions.

3. Why are speed and trust often in tension?
Platforms want to onboard workers quickly, but rising fraud and safety risks require stronger screening, identity verification, and risk controls.

4. What is one of the fastest-growing threats facing platforms today?
Synthetic identity fraud, where individuals use falsified identities or documents to bypass traditional screening processes.

5. Why is identity verification becoming so important?
Identity verification confirms that an applicant is who they claim to be. Without it, even a clean background check may be tied to the wrong person.

6. What does a modern trust and safety program include?
Identity verification, background screening, risk signals, continuous monitoring, and incident response working together as a layered trust framework.

7. How is the gig economy changing hiring decisions?
Many platforms are moving from simple hire-or-reject decisions toward placing workers in roles that align with their risk profile and qualifications.

8. What separates leaders from competitors in trust and safety?
The ability to turn large amounts of data into actionable insights rather than simply collecting more data.

9. Why does reputation matter so much?
A single trust or safety incident can significantly damage customer confidence, making reputation one of the most valuable assets a platform can protect.

10. What is the biggest takeaway from the discussion?
Trust is no longer a one-time background check. It requires ongoing identity verification, continuous monitoring, risk assessment, and a long-term commitment to safety and accountability.

Key Takeaway
Trust is no longer a one-time background check completed during onboarding. Modern workforce trust requires identity verification, continuous monitoring, ongoing risk assessment, and a long-term commitment to safety, compliance, and reputation.

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About First Advantage

First Advantage delivers employment background screening, identity verification, and workforce solutions that help organizations manage risk, improve hiring efficiency, and create trusted workplaces worldwide.

For more content on Background Checks and Identity Solutions visit:

Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/background-checks
Criminal Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/criminal-background-checks
Identity Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions/identity-solutions
All Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions

============================
Connect with us!
============================

Check out our full site: https://fadv.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-advantage
Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/FirstAdvantage
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/first_advantage
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FirstAdvantage1

__________________________

This content is offered for informational purposes only. First Advantage is not a law firm, and this content does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Information in this may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.

Listeners, watchers and readers of this content should contact their own legal advisors concerning for their particular circumstance. No user of this content, should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information in this content. Only your individual attorney or legal advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, or user of this presentation and First Advantage.

© First Advantage

Eric O'Neill helped catch Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who passed every check while spying for decades, an operation later dramatized in the film Breach. In this episode of Know Your People he tells Maureen Lally how bad-faith actors get hired under stolen, clean identities, which independent checks can catch them, and why knowing your people means verifying more than once.

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Top 8 Q&A Takeaways: Identity, Trust, and Employment Fraud

1. Why does the Robert Hanssen case still matter today?

A: Hanssen, one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history, showed that the greatest threats often come from trusted insiders rather than external attackers.

2. What did Eric O'Neill learn from helping catch Hanssen?

A: Organizations must continuously understand their people, systems, and data. Trust breaks when companies stop paying attention.

3. Why is identity becoming harder to verify?

A: Remote work, AI-generated profiles, synthetic identities, and deepfakes are making it easier for bad actors to impersonate legitimate candidates and employees.

4. How are fake candidates getting hired?

A: Criminals can create convincing resumes, social profiles, fake references, fabricated work histories, and even AI-powered interview personas that can pass basic screening processes.

5. What role does AI play in employment fraud?

A: AI dramatically lowers the barrier to creating realistic identities, websites, references, and interview avatars, making traditional hiring verification less effective.

6. Why isn't a one-time background check enough?

A: People, motivations, and risk profiles change over time. Ongoing verification and periodic reassessment are critical, especially for employees with access to sensitive systems.

7. Who is responsible for preventing identity fraud?

A: The organization. Verification cannot be treated as a box-checking exercise. Companies must build processes, technology, and accountability into hiring and workforce management.

8. What should companies do today?

A: Build cybersecurity, identity verification, and security culture into the business from day one. Preparing before an incident is significantly less costly than responding after a breach.

Final Key Takeaway

The challenge is no longer verifying credentials. It's verifying identity. As AI, deepfakes, synthetic identities, and remote hiring reshape the workforce, organizations must move beyond one-time screening and adopt continuous verification, stronger due diligence, and a culture of security. The companies that succeed will be those that consistently confirm not just what someone has done, but who they really are.

============================

About First Advantage

First Advantage delivers employment background screening, identity verification, and workforce solutions that help organizations manage risk, improve hiring efficiency, and create trusted workplaces worldwide.

For more content on Background Checks and Identity Solutions visit:

Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/background-checks
Criminal Background Checks: https://fadv.com/solutions/criminal-background-checks
Identity Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions/identity-solutions
All Solutions: https://fadv.com/solutions

============================
Connect with us!
============================

Check out our full site: https://fadv.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-advantage
Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/FirstAdvantage
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/first_advantage
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FirstAdvantage1

__________________________

This content is offered for informational purposes only. First Advantage is not a law firm, and this content does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Information in this may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.

Listeners, watchers and readers of this content should contact their own legal advisors concerning for their particular circumstance. No user of this content, should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information in this content. Only your individual attorney or legal advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, or user of this presentation and First Advantage.

© First Advantage

Know Your People™ is a podcast about identity, trust, and fraud in the modern workforce.

For trust and safety leaders. For anyone responsible for keeping an organization safe while onboarding at speed and scale, and managing risk. When a verified identity and a worker you can trust are not always the same thing.

Conversations are hosted by the team at First Advantage. They mix the insights of trust and safety leaders from organizations you will know, with those of people who have spent their careers working at the frontier of these issues (not least, chasing fraud for the FBI).

We will discuss what good looks like at scale. Where fraud, and the fight against it, is heading. The trade-offs nobody enjoys: between speed and safety, growth and friction. This isn't about easy answers; it's about the honest ones.

Presented by First Advantage.

__________________________

This content is offered for informational purposes only. First Advantage is not a law firm, and this content does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Information in this may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.

Listeners, watchers and readers of this content should contact their own legal advisors concerning for their particular circumstance. No user of this content, should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information in this content. Only your individual attorney or legal advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this content does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader, or user of this presentation and First Advantage.

© First Advantage