Crucial Checks Employers Will Complete Before Hiring You
You may not realize this but whenever you apply for a job you’re put under immense scrutiny. There are plenty of checks an employer will conduct before they even set up an interview. Some of these are quite intrusive and examine different aspects of your life. However, they are also completely legal and could affect your chances of getting the job. That’s why you need to be prepared for them. Here are a few issues an employer might look at when deciding whether to hire you.
Credit Record
Legally, an employer can not refuse to hire you due to your credit history. While this is true, there’s nothing to stop them looking. They have every right to, and you can bet they will. Particularly, if your job involves any financial responsibility at all. That might include investments, fund management or looking after business accounts. However, they might take it into consideration for a job that involves looking after smaller amounts of money like managing a till. Luckily, there are easy ways to fix a bad credit history. You just need to pay off your debts and make sure that in future your bills are paid on time. Within a year, your credit will be back in the green.
Criminal Record
When you apply for a job, you will typically be asked whether you have ever been arrested. It’s best not to lie here because they will check up on any facts you provide. If it was only a minor offense, you might still get the job. You might wonder whether arrests include road crimes. We wouldn’t recommend you ask your potential employer about this. You’re pretty much just admitting that you have been arrested at some point on the road. Instead, enquire with Scheiner Law your local attorney. They’ll be able to tell you what employers are looking for when they check criminal records. They might also be able to help you get yours cleared or at the very least, sealed.
Social Media Activity
Most employers look at social media activity as a positive. After all, businesses love promoting their companies on social media and it’s useful to have an employee who knows how to do this. True though this is, it needs to be the right type of activity. Employers should not be able to find anything that could embarrass them or their business. As such, if you are open on social media profiles, keep privacy settings high. Ideally, you want to avoid employers finding them. Or, make sure that there is nothing embarrassing that could come back to haunt you. It’s important to remember that publication online is never anonymous, no matter how hidden it might seem.
Job Experience
You might have had a poor history in another company. Perhaps you didn’t click with your boss, or maybe you weren’t happy there. Either way, you didn’t perform well in the position. The best thing to do is leave this period off your CV. Unless, it was an extended part of your career experience. If that’s the case, leave it on but don’t draw attention to it. Make sure it looks boring or completely insignificant to the job you are now applying for. Otherwise, they might check, and a bad report from a previous employer could stop you getting another position.
Image credits