Your Criminal Record Can Be Detrimental When Looking For a Job
Posted: Dec 14, 2010 07:48 am
It is becoming increasingly common for employers to find out as much information about a potential employee before hiring them as they are able. This ranges from checking basic information for accuracy, to checking references, and recently to performing credit checks and background checks on individual job candidates. This last thing- the background check- can cause a high amount of anxiety for some job seekers. It is inevitable that some people searching for jobs are going to have some kind of criminal history in their background. These types of criminal activities can range from traffic violations all the way to major felonies. There are things that you, as job candidate, can do to mitigate the effect of a criminal record on your hire-ability. One of the most important practices you can adopt is that of self-disclosure. If you are called in for a job interview and the employer asks if there is anything you want to talk about, this is the perfect time to bring up any criminal activity that is in your past. Don't try to apologize for it or explain it away, just state the facts. The employer will appreciate your honesty and it will look better for you than if they had found it on their own during a background check. There might also be times when you are wondering if something from your past is going to turn up on a background check or if the employer is even going to go as far as doing a check. It is true that even if you fill out the disclosure form, rarely are checks done unless the candidate is in the final stages of the interview. If you are looking for peace of mind, there are services that you can access that will allow you to pull up your own background check; one of these services is MyBackgroundCheck.com. What this type of service does is allow you to create an account and let the team go to work to search many databases and sources ranging from the court system to former employers. You will be presented with the most up to date accurate information that is available. You can then use this information as you wish. You can decide not to move forward in the job process or you can dispute information that you feel is false. At the very least you will be armed with the knowledge that you need. Remember that anyone can find out almost any information about you with a little work. If you want to keep your name intact and up your chances of being hired, provide information about your background and if there is any criminal activity there, make sure you are the one bringing it up. This way it won't be a surprise when an employer comes at you with questions you may not be prepared to answer.
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