The Past Doesn't Always Stay There

The phone rings and you get the great news, the company you interviewed with likes you and wants you to come back in for a final interview including paperwork. The paperwork I am talking about includes permission for the company to perform a background and credit check.

Background checks and credit checks are not a new thing in the employment world, but they are becoming more and more common place. Technology has made it easier, faster and cheaper to perform these checks and employers are taking advantage of it. Those working with money in any aspect (retail cashier, banking, accounting etc...) can almost be guaranteed a request for a credit check. People applying to work in fields that require a level of personal trust (Home care workers, cleaners etc...) will more then likely deal with a background check. Background checks can consist of (but are not limited to) police checks, education confirmation, social security number verification and drivers records.

So what do you do if a credit or background check is requested and your background is less then stellar? First thing, do not lie. Let your perspective employer know what they might find. Either you can tell them or they can find out on their own, but no matter which way it's done they're going to find out. This is a perfect example of when honesty is the best policy. Especially considering the fact that these checks are basically to confirm that you are trustworthy.

Secondly, know what they might find. Have you ever done your own check on yourself? Do you know your credit history? Have you double checked your employment records to make sure no one is fraudulently using your social security number? These are good things to know in general but even more so when applying for a new job that may require these checks into your history.

A lot of time and effort is put into the hiring process for most companies, they don't want to rehire for a position they just hired for because they hired someone they discovered they can't trust. So be honest and you shouldn't have any issues.

By Jodi Sonoda

Jodi has been blogging for over 3 years, and is excited to currently be blogging with Nexxt for collegejobbank.com. She is attached to the internet at the hip and enjoys the constant connection. She spends most of her offline time playing dolls and reading picture books with her two year old. You can also occasionally find her rocking the mic at karaoke night.