Biopharma professionals have become increasingly likely to be dishonest when interviewing for jobs, based on BioSpace interviews with three talent acquisition experts. The experts discuss the reasons why as well as the types of fraud happening, including people posing as applicants.
Interview fraud, which ranges from job candidates exaggerating their experience to having someone else interview for them, has increased among biopharma professionals in recent years, according to three talent acquisition experts who spoke to BioSpace.
As Julie Heneghan, president and founder of national life sciences staffing firm The Steely Group, told BioSpace, “There are people out there that are sometimes just not honest.”
An intensely competitive job market for highly specialized roles is one reason for increased interview fraud among biopharma professionals, according to Heneghan.
“There’s been a lot of RIFs in biotech in the last year especially, and I think because that does enhance the competition for these roles, candidates feel pressured sometimes to enhance their credentials—not across the board, but you do see it,” she said.
Bryan Tierney, director of talent acquisition and experience at Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a commercial-stage biopharma that develops cancer therapies, noted that another reason is the industry pays well.
“I think they’re realizing that it’s just very, very profitable,” he said.
Associate/Specialist, Competitive, Remote Roles Most Susceptible
Biopharma professionals who are dishonest when interviewing tend to be at the associate or specialist level, according to Tierney. Heneghan shared that perspective and also noted that fraud is most often seen in highly competitive areas like rare disease and gene therapy.
Location is also a factor, according to Zach Kowzic, a Syndax talent acquisition partner. He noted that those committing fraud will be more successful in a remote environment. Heneghan agreed, explaining that when people don’t interview in person, it’s easier for discrepancies to slip through.
Interview fraud has caught the attention of many employers, based on background-check firm Checkr’s survey of 3,000 managers involved in the hiring process over the past 12 months. According to findings released in September, 63% of respondents have updated hiring protocols in the past year to combat artificial intelligence (AI) or identify fraud threats.
Types of Fraud, From Exaggeration to Impersonation
There are multiple types of interview fraud, according to Heneghan, Kowzic and Tierney. They include job candidates exaggerating or falsifying their experience or credentials, misrepresenting where they live, using AI to answer questions and even having someone else interview for them. The last type of fraud can result in companies hiring different people than who they spoke to during the hiring process.
Regarding exaggerating or falsifying experience or credentials, Checkr found that 60% of surveyed managers have uncovered a candidate who misrepresented their experience or qualifications, while 13% suspected deception but couldn’t prove it.
Biopharma job candidates might misrepresent themselves by saying they were in a leadership position when they weren’t or exaggerating their technical experience, according to Heneghan. To a lesser extent, her firm has seen people falsify degrees and certifications, overstate their publications or patents or fabricate references.
Heneghan, Kowzic and Tierney all commented on job candidates using AI to answer questions during interviews. Heneghan and Kowzic shared that they’ve seen applicants read off their responses. Kowzic said after he asks a question, there’ll be a brief pause before he gets a perfect answer.
“People reading during interviews, that’s the big one that I’ve seen personally where I’ve caught people kind of feeding my questions into an AI chatbot and having it spit out a response and then regurgitating that response back,” he said.
As to candidates having someone else pretend to be them when talking to interviewers, a Gartner second-quarter 2025 survey of 3,000 job candidates found that 6% of respondents admitted to participating in interview fraud, either by either posing as someone else or having someone else pose as them. Checkr found that 31% of surveyed managers have interviewed a candidate who was later revealed to be using a fake identity, while 35% said someone other than the listed applicant participated in a virtual interview.
Tierney noted that job candidates who have others pretend to be them are almost certainly applying for remote positions. He explained that they might use someone who looks like them in the hopes that the manager will later misremember their appearance. For example, the interviewer might think the candidate seems different because they haven’t seen them in a while or because the applicant is now wearing glasses that they didn’t have before.
Getting Caught: How Companies Identify Fraud
Companies try to catch people committing interview fraud in several ways, according to Heneghan, Kowzic and Tierney. Those methods include background, credential, social media and reference checks; in-depth behavioral and intense technical interviews; and in-person meetings.
Regarding in-person meetings, talking to someone face to face is growing in popularity, according to Heneghan.
“We are seeing more companies having candidates—for the final step in the interview process—come on site in person where, for the last really four years, everything was virtual,” she said. “It became so common just to hire someone without even meeting them. So, I think the trend is moving back towards some face time before the final offer goes out.”
Tierney noted that although in-person meetings aren’t feasible for every role, just inviting someone to visit the office can help companies detect fraud.
“I can tell you everyone that we’ve uncovered who could be fake, they immediately come up with some excuse of why they cannot travel or meet you in person,” he said.
When employers identify interview fraud, there are consequences. For example, Heneghan said, biopharma professionals can not only lose the job they applied for but also damage their professional reputation given the biotech world is small.
“Everyone knows each other, and people do backdoor references all the time on people,” she said. “So, if you tried to get past that at one company and you got dinged, and you lost the job, it eventually catches up with you.”
Heneghan, Kowzic and Tierney expect interview fraud to increase next year. With that in mind, Heneghan had a straightforward message for biopharma professionals thinking about being dishonest.
“Don’t do it, because it’s going to come out in the wash at some point,” she said.
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