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A Job Hunter’s Secret Weapon
By Jan Maxwell
Your resume was professionally prepared, you aced the interview,
and the hiring manager seemed to be very impressed with your
background. So why didn’t you get the job? As surprising
as it may seem, it could have been the way you filled out
the company’s job application form that did you in.
Due to security concerns and the high cost of retraining,
many companies are using pre-employment screeners to background
prospective hires. In addition to checking for previous criminal
activity, these firms also verify your educational and employment
information. The majority of these screening companies use
your job application, not your resume, to check your credentials.
In today’s tight job market, getting through the pre-employment
process quickly will give you a definite advantage over your
rivals. Providing the right information on your application
is the key to doing that. These five essential rules will
help you sail through your next background check:
Tell the truth.
According to industry experts, 33% of people falsify their
job applications. Do not be one of them. Dishonesty will almost
always take you out of consideration.
Be neat.
Print clearly. Your mother may be able to read your handwriting,
but she’s not the one who’s going to be checking
your credentials. If the company has an on-line application
form, key in the information.
Make your education easy to verify.
Provide the complete name of every high school, college, and
technical school you have ever attended, and make sure you
list the city and state where each school is located. Many
state universities have multiple campuses, each with their
own student records, and there are dozens of high schools
across the country that share the same name.
Be sure to include the type of degrees you received and when
they were conferred. If your degree is pending, provide the
expected date of commencement. Many schools will let the verifier
know that you have applied for graduation.
Registrars use your name and social security number to verify
your education. Be sure to list all of your current and previous
last names, and if your have shortened or Americanized a foreign
name, provide both versions of the name on the application.
If you entered college without a social security number, the
school may require your student number for verification, so
provide it as well.
Make your employment records easy to find.
If you are a student, or a recent graduate, you may not have
a lot of work experience to list on an application. Be creative
and fill those employment slots with volunteer work or internships.
Just be certain to provide a contact name and phone number
(usually your manager), since HR departments don’t often
keep records of this type of employment. If you worked through
a temporary agency, it is the agency that has your personnel
record, so provide their name and address.
If you worked at a fast food restaurant, provide its complete
address. Many restaurants are franchised, and the records
are kept at the individual store. Remember to always provide
a company’s full name on your application. Initials
can stand for many things, and they will slow a verifier down.
Do the homework for the verifier.
Make it as easy as possible for the screening company to verify
your information quickly. Provide accurate phone numbers and
addresses for all of your employers, list the complete names
of all of your supervisors, and let the verifier know if a
company has closed or a school has shutdown.
Even if you have provided every bit of information, there
may be one more thing that the verifier will need, so make
it easy for them to contact you. Provide home, cell phone
numbers, and a work number if possible.
Going the extra mile on your application is the secret weapon
that will ensure that your background check is sitting on
the hiring manager’s desk before any of your competitors!
If you have comments, suggestions, or would like share
your job search strategy in an upcoming edition of The Student
Experience, please email us at newsletter@experience.com.
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