Don’t let an employment background check kill your dream job
Have you ever let an opening for your dream job pass you by because you dread the employment background check? It is an all too common a story among young graduates looking for their first job, mid-level professionals aiming to fast-track their way up the corporate ladder or switch between two when stuck, and people with criminal histories seeking to return to work.
This fear is not entirely baseless as there are estimates that every three out of four businesses perform screenings on all potential employees, the scope of which may be as broad as their work and credit histories, driving, educational and criminal records, professional certifications and licenses, drug screening, and use of social media.
Pre-employment screening checks
So what do employers look for in a background check? Let’s first see what screening checks are generally conducted by employers to curb some of your irrational fears.
Criminal history. For somebody with a criminal history, this should obviously be the most dreaded screening. The good news, however, is that spent convictions cannot be requested which means that if you had committed a criminal offense in the past but have not reoffended in a given period, you have the state protection under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 against any queries regarding the subject offense.
Education and credential checks. These checks verify whether the person is actually the same as portrayed by his/her resume. This might include verification of university degrees and transcripts, professional qualifications, work history, etc.
Reference checks. One of the quickest and most common checks is references from past employers who are requested to comment on the suitability of a given candidate during his/her screening.
Right to work checks. In the UK employers are bound to carry out the ‘right-to-work checks’ to verify if an applicant can legally work in the UK.
Credit checks. Often carried out exclusively in the financial sector, these checks are proportional to the seniority of the position you are applying for. Expect tighter scrutiny when applying for the position of a financial executive than for a banking associate.
DVLA checks. As per the UK Government website, the “Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) exists to ensure best practices for licensing drivers and vehicles to promote road safety and environmental sustainability, while pursuing integrity, excellence, professionalism, and reliability in service delivery”. Candidates who have applied for positions that involve driving on company time will be screened for their road records under mandatory laws.
Social media screening. Our virtual identities speak volumes about our real-life personalities and this fact is quite well-known among employers who often go to great lengths to dig out your online persona for any worrisome traits. If you have embarrassing, cringe-worthy Facebook posts or a few dozen radical, potentially incriminating tweets, now is the best time to delete them before your employer or the third-party screening agency finds them out.
Most employers are already moving in the right direction
Forbes has published a guidebook for all employers on employment background checks and for the most part, the dos and don’ts proposed in it are a welcome break from the traditionally obsessive scrutiny of one-off red flags that show up during a prospective employee’s screening. It urges employers to be “broad and thorough” and see the big picture instead of looking at a specific item. It also proposes that any screening for criminal history ought not to be carried out in binary terms (i.e. convicted or not?) as it potentially disfavors an applicant with a criminal history regardless of how long ago the offense occurred.
Perhaps most important of all is its recommendation to never fail to communicate a red flag to the prospective employee, as engaging in a conversation clears many reporting errors, misconceptions, and job-irrelevant issues.
Employers – the proponents of the big picture theory - should now look at patterns, both positive and negative while evaluating an employee instead of setting up a microscope on one-time events in their histories. This is an encouraging trend for all those candidates who have screwed up in the past but are looking for a fresh start. Increasingly, the employment screening is also being used to report positives (as it was to be aware of the negatives earlier) because employers no longer want to be shortchanged out of their applicants’ positives when they are paying for their complete screening.
Background check tips for job seekers
Know the reasons you can’t be rejected for: While employers have a great deal of flexibility in deciding the scope of their screening, they are not the be-all and end-all. Federal obligations prevent and restrict potential employers from making a decision based on your sexual preferences, medical history, ethnicity, race, or age.
Don’t pretend to be someone you are not. Although it might be easy to overstate your qualifications on your resume, it is not very hard for an employer to find out your excesses during the check which will not have pleasant consequences for your career. Stay honest.
Address gaps in work/education history. The easiest way to lose a potential employer’s trust and interest is to have a perforated resume timeline. Know that your resume is also like your autobiography; and just like a good autobiography, it should not have any unexplained gaps in your work story.
Cite references of those who know you and your accomplishments. The worst mistake you could do is citing references of people who can’t seem to remember you when contacted by a potential employer to learn more about your glowing achievements.
Screen yourself before they do. Before an employer can run a background check on you, why don’t you run one on yourself? Your online public social media profiles might reveal a lot more than you want a potential employer to know. Manage your data trails and privacy well.
Parting Words:
It isn’t always easy to pursue your dream job because the fear of failing at any stage during the process, from the initial interview to the final background check, can be paralyzing and heartbreaking at times. Yet for times when you have found an opening and you understand that what is worse than failing is not trying, we’ve listed the type of background checks potential employers run and what you can do to be prepared. So, get over your jitters and apply right away.
