Background Check

Roughly 1 in 5 American adults have arrest or conviction records, and many of them hope that prospective employers won't ever find out about their pasts. Joseph Bartosch, right, wouldn't be exceptional in that regard except that he's the chief brand officer at a fundamentalist Christian university in Greenville, ...

By Jill Krasny Slacking off isn't the only way to kiss your job goodbye. Carrying around boatloads of debt can do it too, as one stockbroker learned the hard way. Lawyer and Forbes.com blogger Bill Singer writes about Joseph Tarnofsky (pictured above), who never told his bosses (or the Financial ...

It's the catch-22 of the digital age: You need to be on social media to get ahead in many careers, but what you say, whom you associate with or even what you "like" on Facebook could hurt you professionally, as more employers watch workers' every move online. No wonder, a recent study found 63 percent of ...

According to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 73 percent of polled HR professionals said their company, or an agency hired by their company, conducted criminal background checks for all job candidates. That you may receive a background check upon applying for a job isn't noteworthy, ...

By Daniel Wagner WASHINGTON -- Thousands of U.S. job hunters are losing out because employers use faulty background-check data drawn from shoddy records, consumer advocates say in a new report. Those advocates want the government to make sure people know what information prospective employers see, so that ...

References are often the last step in the screening process before an employer extends an offer. While every company has a different policy on references, most still ask for them. What a reference says, or doesn't say, can sometimes make the difference between getting an offer or not. ...

If you've gotten a new job in recent years, you've probably been subjected to a criminal or credit background check. More than 90 percent of employers conduct criminal background checks on job hunters, and 60 percent do credit checks, according to a McClatchy Newpapers report. But job hunters are starting to ...

By Mary Marino For job seekers, the process of finding and landing your dream career can be quite nerve-racking. Pair that with the fact that many job hunters don't really know what happens once they hit "send" and you've got a pretty confused group of people. It's a question we may not think about a lot: ...

It can be fun to Google your name and discover the weird and wonderful lives of your namesakes. It's not so fun however, when your employer does it, mistakes one of them for you, and that namesake was previously arrested for credit card and bank theft. That's what happened to Renee Adams, a mother of four ...

Your resume may get your foot in the door at a company and a strong interview can advance you to the next step in the hiring process, but before you land your next position, chances are the hiring manager will perform a reference check. and this step in the hiring process may be the biggest hurdle of ...

The catch-22 of being unemployed and being unable to pay the bills, and thus being unable to get a job because of bad credit, is ending, at least in Illinois. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a new law Tuesday -- the Employee Credit Privacy Act -- that prohibits employers from using a person's credit history when ...

You can make all the jokes you want about government workers, but with 1.8 million government employees (which doesn't include the military or U.S. Postal Service), the federal government is a good place to find a job. And in a recession, a job is a good thing to have. The federal government is the largest ...

According to a recent survey conducted by Powerchex Limited, a London-based pre-employment screening firm specializing in the financial services sector, more applicants are hiding criminal activity than every before. The purpose of the survey is to reveal trends in candidates' attempts to deceive potential ...

You've been screened, selected and interviewed, and now you've landed the job. Congratulations. But before you can start, your new employer wants you to undergo a drug test and background check. What should you expect when you take a drug test and get background-checked for a new job? ...

Congratulations! You have just been offered your dream job and everyone on the team thinks you are the perfect match for the position. But wait -- there is one final step. Your employer will need to check your references before they can say welcome aboard. Your relationship with your previous boss was decent ...

You lose your job. The bills are rolling in. You start falling behind in your payments, robbing Peter to pay Paul. You try to find employment so you can climb out of your deepening financial hole; you secure a job interview, make it to the next round and then to the final interview ... and then you get the golden ...

By Thea Nyberg Maria W. * had just interviewed for her dream job at a PR agency. The meeting was positive and she was hoping for a job offer when she got the call. "I was informed that they had decided to go with their second-choice candidate," says Maria. "I had failed their credit check." With 9.7 percent ...

10 tips for providing recommendations Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com writer The importance of references seems to be a hot topic these days. Employers want to make sure they are hiring the right person for the job; but some thwart the process because checking references can be labor-intensive. On the ...

CareerBuilder.com So, you swear you have nothing to hide? That's a good thing these days, because more likely than not, your potential employer will be digging into your past. According to a study released last winter by the Society for Human Resource Management, an astounding 80 percent of HR professionals say ...