In the rush to climb the career ladder, it seems that more than a few people prefer the quickest route, no matter what ethical issues they’re forced to confront or, more common, those they choose simply to avoid.

Yet despite the myriad ways that resumé fraud can endanger even the most sterling of management careers, failing to conduct a rigorous background check on a new hire can put the hiring organization in serious jeopardy.

One executive recruiter figures that about 16% of executive resumés contain false academic claims and/or material omissions relating to their educational experience.

But when you account for the fudging of claims of experience unrelated to academic degrees earned, it’s easy to see why recruiters generally acknowledge that as many as one-third of management-level resumés contain errors, exaggerations, material omissions and/or blatent falsehoods.

But given the alarming levels to which some job seekers attempt to mislead, it’s especially important for hiring organizations to understand why it’s critical they verify what they read on resumés, even at the executive level.

What’s even more alarming – and more prevalent than the falsification of one’s background and qualifications for a top job – is the number of hiring organizations failing to conduct a rigorous background check on their new management recruits. Far too many organizations figure that checking a few references is enough.

But even the most thorough of reference checks won’t uncover false claims that pre-date those references’ own professional interactions with the individual executive. It’s quite possible that a fabrication of one’s education, certifications and experience is what got them their first management job many years ago, leaving the trail cold unless it’s reopened during the course of a diligent background check.

When it comes to the kind of executive-level hiring that’s going to cost the organization into the high six figures to execute, it really comes down to caveat emptor.

It may be tempting to trust that a headhunter will uncover any potential recruiting entanglements during the courtship process; at the end of the day it’s entirely up to the hiring organization to know exactly who it is that’s being hired.

Sure, misrepresentation will cost the unscrupulous executive, but it can also wreak havoc for a company’s brand, workforce and external relations teams.

A thorough background check is an important insurance policy for the recruiting process, and headhunters will tell you that your organization risks getting burned if a manager it hires has, at any time in his or her past, decided to assume the risks associated with conjuring their credentials.

Joseph Daniel McCool is a writer, speaker and independent consultant on workforce management, recruiting best practices, and corporate management succession. He is the author of a forthcoming book about global executive recruitment and its impact on corporate performance, culture and profits. He is a senior contributing editor with ExecuNet, a leading executive business, recruiting and referral network, and his perspectives on recruiting best practices have been cited in BusinessWeek, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and other media around the world. Contact him at JoeMcCool@comcast.net.