A startup founder shared a LinkedIn post in which he claims that he hired a candidate who had allegedly fabricated key details on his resume. The startup claims that his hiring cost them a loss of Rs 2 lakh, four months of disruption and a hard lesson in why background verification is non-negotiable.
“We hired someone who lied about everything on their resume. By the time we found out, we’d lost 2 lakhs,”Ashutosh Gupta, Chief Business Officer at Praper Media wrote in the post.
Back when Praper was smaller, the company relied heavily on interviews and instinct. “Background verification felt unnecessary. So we hired based on interviews and gut feeling. If someone seemed good in the interview, we brought them on,” Gupta wrote.
According to Gupta, Chirag came across as confident and experienced. He claimed he was earning Rs 40,000 at his previous agency. The team offered him Rs 45,000 – a raise that seemed fair for someone with three years of experience.
“Said he was making ₹40K at their last agency. We offered ₹45K. Deal done,” Gupta wrote.
Red flags in performance
The trouble began two months into the job. Chirag (name changed) was assigned a standard reaction video edit – routine work that junior editors at the agency typically handle three times a day. But this time, something was off.
“Chirag took 2 DAYS. And the output was unusable,” Gupta wrote.
For someone claiming three years of experience and a Rs 40,000 salary, the performance simply didn’t add up. That’s when the company decided to dig deeper.
“For someone who claimed 3 years of experience and ₹40K salary at their last agency? That made no sense. So we called his previous employer,” Gupta wrote.
What the verification revealed
The findings were startling. Gupta revealed that Chirag was not making Rs 40,000, he was making Rs 25,000. He further clarified that he wasn’t resigned, he was fired because of his performance issues.
What initially seemed like minor inconsistencies turned into a full-blown case of misrepresentation.
Gupta also breaks down the real cost which occurs when Chirag was the part of the startup.
“Rs 1.35 lakh in salary over three months. Rs 40,000 worth of training time. Rs 25,000 spent on hiring a replacement,” Gupta wrote.
He also pointed out the loss that went beyond the numbers. “Delayed client projects. Team morale taking a hit. Leadership time wasted”.
Adding to it he mentioned that, “Total: ₹2L+ and 4 months lost. All because we skipped one step.”
A ‘no-exceptions’ policy for the future
The incident triggered a major change in hiring policy at Praper Media. “So now every hire gets background verification. No exceptions,” Gupta stated.
The company’s updated process includes emailing the previous employer’s HR, calling the previous manager through official company numbers (not personal ones provided by the candidate), cross-checking LinkedIn details and verifying salary slips.
Gupta also warned that some candidates attempt to bypass these checks. “People try to bypass with fake numbers and photoshopped slips. We catch them 90% of the time.”