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214 SNAKES IN SUITS
Faking It
A medical doctor was sentenced to prison for fraud. But this
was not a simple case of bilking people of their money. Instead,
he received millions of dollars from pharmaceutical firms to conduct
scores of research projects involving human subjects. Unfortunately
for the sponsoring firms, many of the research protocols
he generated for them were made up, fudged, or otherwise fake.
For example, he bought urine from his employees and passed it
off as having come from patients in his “research” projects. Investigators
described what he had done as “one of the most corrupt
research enterprises ever discovered by law enforcement.”
Following his conviction, the doctor offered to cooperate with
investigators to expose other doctors involved in phony medical
research. He also expressed concern at being “visualized as nothing
more than a common crook.” But there is nothing at all common
about callous greed that puts the health of others at risk.
Also, because advanced degrees often require the writing of theses
or dissertations, and seasoned technical professionals sometimes
write articles and scientific papers, cautious companies may find it
worthwhile to get a copy of these documents and let their technical
staff read and assess them. Google Scholar is a good resource for this
purpose.
The weak point in screening résumés, at least for the company
wishing to avoid hiring a psychopath, is, of course, the résumé itself.
Unfortunately, other than uncovering the most outrageous lies, little
can be done to assure the accuracy of this initial screen. In general,
one should not be too blinded by an impressive résumé. The job of
the résumé is to get the applicant in the door—the first hurdle—but
deeper digging is necessary to assure that what has impressed you is
accurate.