So how does your company check previous work experience?

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

Well, I just came back from a talk with our HR department, the lady who is in charge of our HR says all she does is calling the previous places and verifying the start/end date and the job title. She said when she was at a fortune 100 company, they asked about everything, job duties, manager, co-workers, copy of pay stub...etc.


Mmm...I've never heard of HR talking to previous manager and co-workers for verification, let alone previous pay stub. Am I just clueless or what? I have only worked for small and mid-sized companies before.

 

[arcenite]

Originally posted by: IHAVEAQUESTION
I am just clueless.

There's your answer

 

[nageov3t]

sounds about right.

don't lie on your resume and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: IHAVEAQUESTION
Well, I just came back from a talk with our HR department, the lady who is in charge of our HR says all she does is calling the previous places and verifying the start/end date and the job title. She said when she was at a fortune 100 company, they asked about everything, job duties, manager, co-workers, copy of pay stub...etc.

They didn't ask about EVERYTHING, but they most certainly called all my previous employers that I listed (all 3 of them, which was a first...) and asked about me. Much more than "can you verify Ns1 worked here from xxx to xxx"

 

[OCGuy]

Welcome to the work force.

 

[yllus]

Start date and end date at my company as well. Well, I guess when we went looking for interns we also looked at their public Facebook profiles.

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: IHAVEAQUESTION
Well, I just came back from a talk with our HR department, the lady who is in charge of our HR says all she does is calling the previous places and verifying the start/end date and the job title. She said when she was at a fortune 100 company, they asked about everything, job duties, manager, co-workers, copy of pay stub...etc.

They didn't ask about EVERYTHING, but they most certainly called all my previous employers that I listed (all 3 of them, which was a first...) and asked about me. Much more than "can you verify Ns1 worked here from xxx to xxx"

Yup, and most places will only verify title and work dates per CYA, but some will answer more than that.

 

[Doggiedog]

They call your HR department or verify with your former boss.

 

[thegimp03]

I know that the company I currently work for (Fortune 500 company) hired a background check company which called all my previous work places. There was a minor discrepancy in what I'd put down for one of my jobs versus what was reported to them by the person at the company - I'd worked construction 3 summers in college and I estimated the month I started the job for one of the years for ease of putting on the resume, but it didn't keep me from getting my job. The person at the background check company had really broken english and called me regarding the discrepancy, but in the end it didn't really matter.

I can see why they do it. There have been major C-level executives who've lied about their education and work credentials in the past and only later been outted. About 7 years ago Veritas (now part of Symantec) had a CFO for 5 years before they figured out that had lied about having an MBA from Stanford. It's ironic, since the Veritas location is only a 15 minute drive from Stanford University.

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

I was under the impression that most companies would not reveal more info than they have to. Therefore, the copy of pay stub and other stuff seems a bit excessive to me.

 

[xchangx]

My current employer just verified that I worked there. My previous employer (hospital) is too scared to release any other information.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Depends on how well I know the HR people at the previous companies. Could be anywhere from dates of employment to a life-story about the employee.

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

I guess I want to know how big, public companies check previous experiences. I have plenty of experiences with small and mid-sized companies already.

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: IHAVEAQUESTION
I was under the impression that most companies would not reveal more info than they have to. Therefore, the copy of pay stub and other stuff seems a bit excessive to me.

I've had companies call me for verification when I was in a position to do so and all we would verify is title and dates. No way in hell we would do anymore than that.

Talking to co-workers? Get real.

 

[Insomniator]

Didn't check at all, barely even asked me about it in the interview...

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: thegimp03
I know that the company I currently work for (Fortune 500 company) hired a background check company which called all my previous work places. There was a minor discrepancy in what I'd put down for one of my jobs versus what was reported to them by the person at the company - I'd worked construction 3 summers in college and I estimated the month I started the job for one of the years for ease of putting on the resume, but it didn't keep me from getting my job. The person at the background check company had really broken english and called me regarding the discrepancy, but in the end it didn't really matter.

I can see why they do it. There have been major C-level executives who've lied about their education and work credentials in the past and only later been outted. About 7 years ago Veritas (now part of Symantec) had a CFO for 5 years before they figured out that had lied about having an MBA from Stanford. It's ironic, since the Veritas location is only a 15 minute drive from Stanford University.

Read about Radio shack's ex-CEO...

Text

edit: although apparently if you read his bio it was on their website and he never actually claimed it, just took responsibility for the "misrepresentation."

 

[DaWhim]

that's call due diligence.

 

[jlee]

My current employer got a copy of my entire personnel file.

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

Originally posted by: JLee
My current employer got a copy of my entire personnel file.

Is this even legal? Your previous employer is supposed to safeguard your personal file.

 

[SZLiao214]

Originally posted by: [b]thegimp03[/b]
I know that the company I currently work for (Fortune 500 company) hired a background check company which called all my previous work places. There was a minor discrepancy in what I'd put down for one of my jobs versus what was reported to them by the person at the company - I'd worked construction 3 summers in college and I estimated the month I started the job for one of the years for ease of putting on the resume, but it didn't keep me from getting my job. The person at the background check company had really broken english and called me regarding the discrepancy, but in the end it didn't really matter.

I can see why they do it. There have been major C-level executives who've lied about their education and work credentials in the past and only later been outted. About 7 years ago Veritas (now part of Symantec) had a CFO for 5 years before they figured out that had lied about having an MBA from Stanford. It's ironic, since the Veritas location is only a 15 minute drive from Stanford University.

It is ironic because the place was called Veritas

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: IHAVEAQUESTION

Originally posted by: JLee
My current employer got a copy of my entire personnel file.

Is this even legal? Your previous employer is supposed to safeguard your personal file.

Not when your employer is the gubment and you're a LEO.

 

[thegimp03]

Originally posted by: SZLiao214

Originally posted by: [b]thegimp03[/b]
I know that the company I currently work for (Fortune 500 company) hired a background check company which called all my previous work places. There was a minor discrepancy in what I'd put down for one of my jobs versus what was reported to them by the person at the company - I'd worked construction 3 summers in college and I estimated the month I started the job for one of the years for ease of putting on the resume, but it didn't keep me from getting my job. The person at the background check company had really broken english and called me regarding the discrepancy, but in the end it didn't really matter.

I can see why they do it. There have been major C-level executives who've lied about their education and work credentials in the past and only later been outted. About 7 years ago Veritas (now part of Symantec) had a CFO for 5 years before they figured out that had lied about having an MBA from Stanford. It's ironic, since the Veritas location is only a 15 minute drive from Stanford University.

It is ironic because the place was called Veritas

That too, lol.