Employment Screening Resources President Lester Rosen Quoted on SFGate.com

By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Blog Writer

Recently, a blog on SFGate.com by Personal Finance Authority Erica Sandberg – Can you get a job with bad credit? The answer may surprise you. – addressed a reader who was concerned how her damaged credit would affect her job search.

In her blog, which contained an excerpt from a column she wrote on CreditCards.com, Sandberg indicated there are “many myths surrounding credit reports and employment” and that to “get to the bottom” of how credit reports are really being used she spoke with Lester Rosen, CEO of Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a consumer reporting agency (CRA) and human resources consulting firm based in the San Francisco area.

In the blog, Rosen had the following to say about credit reports of job applicants being used for employment purposes:

• Employers don’t randomly access credit reports from all job applicants. They only do so for those who are solid candidates.
• If they are pulling a credit report, congratulations! They are doing a background check, and that is good news, as they are seriously considering the applicant for the position. They won’t run it before the applicant is a finalist.
• Credit reports aren’t checked for all occupations or industries. Most employers are looking at credit reports for people applying for positions that are clearly related to finance or have access to cash or credit. They usually don’t access credit reports for people applying for minimum wage jobs.
• The only way an employer can pull an applicant’s credit report is with the applicant’s permission. Therefore, if the employer asks, the applicant should head over to the human resources department and explain his or her particular situation.
• A potential boss does not have access to the same type of reports that lenders do. The credit reports employers can see never include credit scores or list dates of birth. All they can view is an applicant’s credit history.
• If applicants are concerned about how these credit report pulls may harm their credit report further, they can relax. Unlike when a prospective creditor checks it, no “inquiry” will be listed.

As for the real impact of a job applicant’s credit damage, Rosen recommends in the blog that they should not worry about even that too much.

“Our experience is that employers are very sensitive to the fact that credit reports are not perfect. And everyone in the world knows there is a recession, and employers take that into consideration. It’s a misconception that people are being blacklisted because of their credit reports. However, if the employer does makes an adverse decision based on your report, you have a right to know about it and get a copy of the report they used.”

The gist of the story, according to Sandberg, is that credit reports may not be as powerful and important as job applicants may think, and that chances are some employers will be willing to give applicants with debt problems a break if they really want to hire them.

For more information on the use of credit reports in background checks of job applicants, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.ESRcheck.com.
 
Sources:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/esandberg/detail?entry_id=69919
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/erica-sandberg-credit-reports-score-impact-job-hunt-1377.php

By Lester Rosen, President of ESR

(Originally posted on HR.Toolbox.com)

From the mailbag: I have heard the argument made that using business connections sites is more accurate than resumes and can even replace a past employment check, since a candidate is not as likely to lie on an online service where many friends and colleagues may see it.

Answer: Looking at business connection sites during the recruiting or selection stage can certainly be another tool for HR or recruiting to try to differentiate a large group of candidates and whittle it down to a smaller and more manageable group. Even then, there are significant issues to keep in mind, such as the potential for discrimination.

In terms of using such sites as a substitute for an application, background check or other tools to demonstrate due diligence, recruiters and employers may well be on thin ice.

First, if a person lies on a social networking site, there are no direct consequences. These sites do not independently verify any facts. The basic problem is that all of the qualifications are self-stated. Remember those bad home loans issued recently on the basis of “stated income, where a person just made up any income they needed? Some of these sites operate in a similar way.

These sites also do not contain a comment or feedback area where others can disagree, or warn employers that qualifications are overstated. Furthermore, if an applicant has listed a certificate or educational accomplishment that is not true, exactly how are colleagues suppose to knew that, much less bring it to anyone’s attention. A colleague may not even know that an applicant has lied.

Of course, if a person has legitimate recommendations, that can help somewhat. However, a determined con artist could well create a chain of other fake identities that can be used to verify the phony credentials. It may well take a determined recruiter or employer to notice the fraud or track it down. If such a fraud is even discovered, what is the mechanism to alert the business listing site of the fraud.

Employment Screenings Resources has done advanced searches using the names of known diploma mills that offer worthless degrees. It is shocking the number individuals on these business connection sites working for well recognized firms that openly advertise a worthless degree obtained from a degree mill as part of their qualifications. This in fact was demonstrated at a recent meeting on the topic of education fraud by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (www.napbs.com).

Finally the suggestion without metrics that people do not lie or fabricate on a social network site because others will view it will not likely be much of a defense in court if a firm hires a fibber and it turns out a background check costing a few dollars would have revealed it.

The bottom-line once again: There is nothing as effective as actual verification of a candidate’s claimed experience.

For more information on the use of social network sites and employment, see: http://www.esrcheck.com/articles/Caution-Using-Search-Engines-MySpace-or-Facebook-for-Hiring-Decisions-May-Be-Hazardous-to-Your-Business.php

For more information on background checks in general, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.ESRcheck.com

Source:

http://hr.toolbox.com/blogs/background-checks/can-recruiters-or-employers-really-rely-on-business-connecting-sites-instead-of-an-application-background-check-or-other-due-diligence-tools-39771