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This question is specifically for those involved in the hiring process....how, exactly do you gather information from the internet as part of the background check? How well do you scrutinize and verify what you find? Please describe your actual experiences with this. Thanks.
I can't say that I am involved in the background process--- we have a security group who only focuses on that.
However, when selecting people to make an offer to, I do admit to googling. If they have a facebook or myspace-- then I take a peek. Same would apply to linkedin, etc.
Our blue collar workers we call at least two previous employers to make sure they didn't get fired for stealing or getting into a fist fight on the shop floor then send them for a drug test. If they pass they are brought on with a 30 probationary period during which we reserve the right to do further background checks. Anyone who drives our vehicles also gets a DMV check. (If they don't drive for us, we don't care if they even have a license, let alone a clean one.) We don't look at their credit, it just doesn't matter to us for the type of work they do. As long as they have no history of workplace violence or theft and a reasonably clean DMV, we're good with them. (And of course the drug screen needs to be clean.)
On our white collar workers we do a reference check, and in some cases credit (for anyone who has signatory authority on the company accounts and/or an expense account), DMV (for anyone who will routinely drive on company business), and criminal check (pretty much the same as the credit check group). We also look on Facebook/Myspace/LinkedIn, etc.
The company lawyer gets all the checks run for the white collar group except previous employer references. DMV needs to be reasonably clean--one ticket isn't going to cost a job, but a string of tickets, DUI, aggressive driving, etc. will. Credit needs to be decent if they are in either a money handling or expense account position--a couple lates on the credit card or a medical collection won't cost the job, but a history of sloppy credit, judgements, a ton of collection accounts, etc. will. Criminal needs to come back clean of any violent or sex crime ever, no drug related crime in the past seven years. Someone who got arrested for disturbing the peace 10 years ago in college, they could care less. Someone who got arrested for public drunkeness and assault two years ago would be a no-go.
We will hire persons convicted of non-violent felonies, I know we've got two guys working for us right now who both served time in prison/jail, one for a drug charge and one dumbass for having a string of non-paid traffic tickets, no insurance, and then showing up an hour late for court very hungover. The judge through the book at him and sent him to jail for four months. But he's great at his job, shows up on time, doesn't operate our vehicles, and he's passed several random drug checks, so we dont' really care.
Thanks for the responses. This is the issue I have with checking out social networking sites- I have a 'cyber twin' out there causing havoc on society. We share the same first and last name. I often wonder if past companies have googled her information, thinking it was me, and passed me over for job opportunities. I'm not currently looking for a job but I do worry how this affects my professional work. My issue is that companies are probably not as thorough as they could be when it comes to googling an applicant's name. The applicant is never made aware of the process (or the specifics) so they're never given a chance to explain themselves.
Thanks for the responses. This is the issue I have with checking out social networking sites- I have a 'cyber twin' out there causing havoc on society. We share the same first and last name. I often wonder if past companies have googled her information, thinking it was me, and passed me over for job opportunities. I'm not currently looking for a job but I do worry how this affects my professional work. My issue is that companies are probably not as thorough as they could be when it comes to googling an applicant's name. The applicant is never made aware of the process (or the specifics) so they're never given a chance to explain themselves.
Be proactive. Put up your own Facebook/Myspace site with some very basic information (your name, general geographical area) and post to it now and then--just nonchalant things like "It's such a pretty day, I hope the weather stays like this for the weekend" or "I just got done reading a great book and now I'm going to make dinner." Total drivel that could in no way be held against you. Add a few very select friends, and offer the links to the sites to any potential employers and let them know that the other person they might find with the same name is not you.
I'm pretty sure there are very few "unique" names given the population of this planet, so I don't know why you're that concerned about it.
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