| Page 2 of 2 < |
You're Hired! Now, Tell Us About Yourself
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Importantly, workers can't choose to "opt out" of certain portions of a background check. If they want to accept the offer, they must consent to the entire thing -- though they are entitled to know exactly what information will be checked.
Employers may tailor screenings further based on the specific position. A bad credit report might be more important to a company looking to hire someone who wants to work in finance, explains Terry Bradley, manager of research and development recruitment at pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, while spots on a driving record may not reflect well on a would-be delivery driver.
"If I do a background check on a person and they have a bad credit report and I am considering them for an administrative assistant position," Bradley says, "it would be unfair to consider their credit because they are not handling money."
Employers are also often interested in evaluating potential employees' past behaviors in an attempt to identify patterns and perhaps predict future behaviors -- especially in the case of criminal conduct and driving records -- by checking how recent and how serious a candidate's transgressions might have been so as to take into account that people can mature, grow and leave past problems behind. "We are looking for a pattern of behaviors and determining if a person is now accountable and responsible," Bradley says.
It's because of this that it behooves job candidates to be as forthcoming as possible when applying for work and answering background-related questions, experts say, particularly in the case of criminal matters: Apparent lies or inconsistencies may reinforce concerns about past behaviors or raise unnecessary questions. Many employers, meanwhile, will work with individuals to reach common ground if aspects of a person's background raise flags.
And attempting to hide information may prove fruitless anyway with so much data easily available electronically and otherwise. "The best tip I can offer is to tell the truth. Do not lie and misrepresent yourself, because it will be found out," says Bradley.
Derrick Dortch is president of Redford, Mich.-based career development firm The Diversa Group, which has a regional office in Washington, D.C.
