background checks in jobs?

myright

an9i77 wrote: »

I'd say it's common for employers to check either last two employers or if the last two is less than two years, up to two years. Usually all reference requests will be sent by the HR department to the nominated referee (in a big company these may go straight to HR) and the info will then be passed back to HR who will check it, and raise any concerns to the manager who made the decision to recruit. Agreed that in certain industries a five year check is now becoming mandatory - this includes financial services, airline industry and many where kids are involved. When I worked for an airline, they were extra tight cos of terrorism threat, and applicants had to account for the past five years of their life, any gap of more than two weeks had to be referenced. So if somone had gone travelling for example, and couldn't provide evidence, they would get their offer of employment refused.
Having said that some places are extremely lax, where i work for example they did not take references for me, even though they were supposed to, probably because I was joining the HR team so I fell out of the loop, maybe they expected me to do it myself or something!!

So are you saying they can only contact companies if they state 'they are going to do a 5 years check' or require lets say '2 references from previous employers' . Would they need permision from employee to contact their previous employers?

dandelionclock30

The only way you can really find out 100% where someone has worked is through their tax records.However these are not passed onto anyone not even a persons husband or wife!.I know someone who worked on the capital gains tax section and he looked up his own records and on his house for non work purposes. This was his only mistake in 15 years and he was dismissed its that tight!

Are you sure is not you whos lied? because you seem very concerned about the issue? Im always suspicious when people say my friend(whos got a STD,Pregnant,gone bankrupt,in prisonetc) lol.

myright

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

The only way you can really find out 100% where someone has worked is through their tax records.However these are not passed onto anyone not even a persons husband or wife!.I know someone who worked on the capital gains tax section and he looked up his own records and on his house for non work purposes. This was his only mistake in 15 years and he was dismissed its that tight!

Are you sure is not you whos lied? because you seem very concerned about the issue? Im always suspicious when people say my friend(whos got a STD,Pregnant,gone bankrupt,in prisonetc) lol.

Look it makes no difference to me what people think, at the end of the day it's only a forum.

The reaosn I'm asking is because, my friend has lied through her teath on her c.v by adding additional positions. So i wanted to know how 'fair' applying for jobs really is. I've never lied on my cv ever, not even abit.

DCFC79

Its up to her to do it, she could get found out 1 way or another sooner or later. Its not my concern if its you or not, you asked a question and replies were given.

persa

myright wrote: »

So are you saying they can only contact companies if they state 'they are going to do a 5 years check' or require lets say '2 references from previous employers' . Would they need permision from employee to contact their previous employers?

I had to give permission for an external screening company to vet the past five years of my life. If I hadn't given that permission, I'd be unemployed right now. 'Do we have your permission?' It's one of those questions where the only correct answer is 'Yes'!

kingfisherblue

Post 1:
He's put in a few extra jobs

Post 14:
my friend has lied through her teath on her c.v

A sex change in the space of a few hours :rotfl:

dandelionclock30

Your "friend" could always ring up the company themselves as a member of the public wishing to apply for the position advertised and enquiring about the recruitment procedure because they had just been travelling/had a baby/ had a gap etc. Often places will give out their recruitment and selection procedures to prospective candidates and its sometimes on their websites.
They would have to give their permission for the new employer to contact all previous employers.This is sometimes added at the bottom of the last page on application form.

cr1mson

The other thing to remember is that even if you don't get caught during vetting procedures prior to starting job you can get caught out later!

I know of someone who has said they were x at a particular company their boss meet someone from x and found out they were only the office junior and they got sacked. This was several years after they had been working for them!

C

dandelionclock30

I used to be friends with a woman who was the Head of a Teacher Training Course at a local college.She lied about having a degree, she apparently never sat the exams, but did attend the course.She did her P.G.C.E on the back of an MA that was funded when she worked for a Health Authority.
So she is the head of the course teaching people who have degrees and are in effect better qualified than her!
However, she will have to remain there until retirement or win the lottery because all teaching jobs now will want to see your certificate and check with the universities you attended. Also she is open to being blackmailed by people who know.

Jinx

The company I work for takes up 5 years references. When it was discovered the employee had lied they would be sacked due to being dishonest. But in fairness, our whole recruitment process is very integrity and honesty focused and employees require an Enhanced Disclosure too.