- Jul 16, 2001
- 17,969
- 140
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Text
Digging for dirt
So when my editor suggested we run a background check on him to determine how much your employer can find out about you, I leaped at the chance.
Surely we could uncover at least some dirt that would make for a juicy story -- or that, kept tucked away, could give me some leverage in our next salary negotiation.
Alas, it was not to be.
The employment check we requested, and subsequent interviews with human-resources experts, surprised me in several ways -- both at the depth and breadth of information that can be turned up, and at how many gaps in the employment screening process there are.
The one youthful indiscretion my editor confessed to -- a July 4th peccadillo at age 19 that led to a night in jail and a misdemeanor conviction -- never appeared in the reports prepared by Los Angeles-based US Search, the company we asked to run the background check.
The three most important lessons from all this:
Don't lie about where you've worked or when. Nine out of 10 large companies now conduct background checks on all potential new hires, human resources experts say, and the process of verifying employment is so routine that many companies have automated the process.
Don't lie about where you went to school or what degree you earned. Despite the recent rash of revelations about resume padding -- from California's poet laureate to Notre Dame's football coach to Veritas Software's CFO -- degree-fudging is remarkably easy to detect.
Beyond that, don't assume your past is an open book. Now, I would never advocate lying to a potential employer. But you don't necessarily have to confess all in fear that the company will discover everything about you anyway.
Digging for dirt
So when my editor suggested we run a background check on him to determine how much your employer can find out about you, I leaped at the chance.
Surely we could uncover at least some dirt that would make for a juicy story -- or that, kept tucked away, could give me some leverage in our next salary negotiation.
Alas, it was not to be.
The employment check we requested, and subsequent interviews with human-resources experts, surprised me in several ways -- both at the depth and breadth of information that can be turned up, and at how many gaps in the employment screening process there are.
The one youthful indiscretion my editor confessed to -- a July 4th peccadillo at age 19 that led to a night in jail and a misdemeanor conviction -- never appeared in the reports prepared by Los Angeles-based US Search, the company we asked to run the background check.
The three most important lessons from all this:
Don't lie about where you've worked or when. Nine out of 10 large companies now conduct background checks on all potential new hires, human resources experts say, and the process of verifying employment is so routine that many companies have automated the process.
Don't lie about where you went to school or what degree you earned. Despite the recent rash of revelations about resume padding -- from California's poet laureate to Notre Dame's football coach to Veritas Software's CFO -- degree-fudging is remarkably easy to detect.
Beyond that, don't assume your past is an open book. Now, I would never advocate lying to a potential employer. But you don't necessarily have to confess all in fear that the company will discover everything about you anyway.
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