EmployeeScreenIQ Blog

The New York Times published a great article on how social networks are used by National Football League teams in order to perform background checks on players.  In reality the prospect of using these sites to conduct employment background checks in no different than what an ordinary employer considers.  See our recent white paper, Recruiting and Social Networking Sites: What you Know Can Hurt You.

NFL Prospects Have No Privacy on Internet. And Neither May You.

By TONI MONKOVIC

Mike Tanier’s latest Walkthrough column at Football Outsiders takes on the issue of privacy on the Internet, in football and beyond.

Oversharing on social networks can cost N.F.L. prospects big dollars on draft day. But they, like many college seniors, are in a vulnerable position — they’re making the most of their final days of pre-employment responsibility. In other words, they’re having fun, sometimes the kind of fun you don’t tell Mom about. “Most of us are lucky that stage of our lives wasn’t indelibly preserved,” Tanier writes.

Every detail of a prospect’s background is researched by teams and publicized by the media. The scrutiny goes beyond touchdowns and dropped passes, it continues to arrests, scandals, and brief, long-ago suspensions for “undisclosed team violations.” If a player was involved in some non-noteworthy taproom scuffle, we know about it. Type “Jimmy Clausen” into your search engine, and Google helpfully suggests “punch” to steer you toward controversy.

Athletes are far from the only ones who can be hurt:

The days of walking into a job interview with a new suit and a spell-checked resume are long gone. Today’s college graduate cannot expect his or her past to disappear once he or she enters the job market.

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Earlier today, I wrote a post about the importance verifying a candidate’s date of birth before conducting a background check and used the workplace violence incident that took place at Ohio State as an example of what can go wrong.  I pointed out that the applicant gave an incorrect date of birth and that the University failed to confirm the birth date by looking at his driver’s license.

I have since learned that this is not the case.  I have now been told that it was the court where the conviction occurred who had the record filed under the wrong date of birth.  If this is true then no matter what Ohio State and the background screener did, the background check would have been doomed from the start.  Notwithstanding this information, the information we shared about the importance of confirming date of birth are still just as relevant.

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Many employers wonder why they need to provide an applicant’s date of birth in order to perform thorough employment background checks.  This story below, might convince them of the importance of not only providing the date of birth, but also why it is vitally important to verify the given birth date.

By now, many of you have seen the story about the workplace violence incident that took place at The Ohio State University last week which resulted the shooting death of one employee and a serious wound to another.  The first thing everyone asked, and rightfully so: did the university conduct a background check before hiring this employee?  The answer was yes and the background check didn’t reveal the employee’s past conviction where he spent 5 years in prison for receiving stolen property.  The university says that had it known of the record, they never would have hired the individual.

Of course, the media jumped all of the company that performed the background check.  But before you automatically assume that the screening provider botched the check, here’s an important fact to consider and an equally important lesson for employers. It turns out that the employee provided the school with a fraudulent date of birth.

Why is that a problem?

Nearly all courts file criminal records by name and date of birth (some include more information).  In order to conduct a criminal background check, court researchers must search by both the name and date of birth.  If the date of birth is incorrect, the record will not be found.  Originally, both the school and the media seemed to be squarely blaming the background screening company.  However, it appears that the record was missed because Ohio State ran the check using the wrong date of birth.

So hear is the lesson.  Employers must verify an applicant’s date of birth before performing the background check. All you have to do is look at a driver’s license or other government issued ID.  Failing to do so allows the applicant to provide you with fake information which will ultimately derail your efforts to perform thorough employment background checks.  Verifying the date of birth also helps to avoid innocent mistakes or clerical errors. Now, I’m sure my alma mater had the best intentions in mind.  In truth, my guess is that many organizations forget or neglect to do this.  Unfortunately, the results can be deadly.

For more information on what employers can do to combat workplace violence, please download our recent whitepaper, Protecting Your Employees from Workplace Violence.

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I think this chart helps to explain the explosion of and prevalence of diploma mills and other misrepresentations of academic credentials.  In 2010, those without a high school degree are nearly four times more likely to be unemployed than those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.  Those with a high school diploma, but no college experience are twice as likely to be unemployed than their counterparts with college degrees.  And even those with some college experience, but no degree are nearly 38% more likely to be unemployed.

Remember, the best way to determine the authenticity of ones’ claimed academic qualifications is to conduct an education verification as part of your employment background screening program.

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This story out of the Palm Beach Post caught my eye because it involves so many warning signs that an employer missed or failed to follow up on and ultimately resulted in disaster.  Erika Morales showed up for her first day of work at a medical supply company with an electronic monitoring device courtesy of Palm Beach county.  When asked, she said that she needed to resolve a domestic issue.  The employer never followed up.  Ms. Morales was given access to the personal information of hundreds of clients and in turn used that information to commit identity theft and steal from them.

She is now in jail and charged with 25 counts of identity theft.  See story.

Here’s what we learned in the wash.  The employer says that they conducted an employment background check.  Of course the first signal that perhaps the check was flawed would have been the lovely jewelry she wore around her ankle.  Here’s what they missed:

• If they would have conducted employment verifications or professional reference interviews they could have known this from her past employers:
  • • Walmart: stole two $500 gift cards.
    • Yellow Cab: stole more than $4,000 by logging phony trips and running customers’ credit cards more than once.
    • Kauff’s Towing: stole about $2,500. Prosecutors declined to prosecute.
• If the would have run a credit report, they would have seen that she had over $78,000 of liens and judgments against her.
• And then to 6 arrests for fraud and a two year stint in prison that might have been revealed if a proper criminal background check was completed

Who know how much this will cost her employer or how badly their reputation has been damaged.  It could have been avoided with an inexpensive, but thorough employment background check.

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Congrats to our good friends and strategic partners at iCIMS, an global leader in talent management software!  And true to form, they are celebrating this occasion in grand style.  See below.

P.S. I don’t know if this will encourage attendance or not, but I plan to be at the Chicago event.

iCIMS is kicking off 2010 with a celebration to shout about: Happy 10th Anniversary, iCIMS!

Incorporated in 2000, iCIMS marks its 10th year in business with a tour around the nation starting April 8th in New York City. The celebration will give all attendees the opportunity to meet the iCIMS family and network with other HR professionals to learn the latest in HR technology solutions. The company will visit 8 cities in total. Click on the city name to register for an event near you or check out the iCIMS 10th Anniversary site!

So, why the party?

First, let’s take a little trip back in time…

Built from the ground up, iCIMS offered the world a new way to approach the HR function. Fast, flexible, web-based talent management software to facilitate human resource departments worldwide. Within the first year, iCIMS was already experiencing rapid growth, but this was only a sliver of the success about to come. Throughout the next ten years, iCIMS became a major player and strong international presence in the Software-as-a-Service Industry. Its client base rose rapidly to over 800 clients and offices were opened throughout North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

So again, why the celebration?

This anniversary tour celebrates iCIMS’ rise to excellence, from its extraordinary 963% organic growth rate to its unwavering commitment to improve the HR technology world. Additionally, and maybe most importantly, iCIMS is celebrating those who have helped them achieve such phenomenal success: Clients and Partners! iCIMS’ 800 clients have contributed to the Company’s success with their year-after-year renewals. And, partners, such as EmployeeScreenIQ, have assisted iCIMS in their indirect growth initiatives allowing them to expand even further into areas never ventured before.  A big THANK YOU to all for your continued support of the iCIMS Talent Platform!

This has been a momentous decade for iCIMS, full of growth and expansion. The iCIMS team expects even greater success to come in 2010 and beyond. Join us in celebrating ten years of excellence and register for an event near you!

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I feel like I write the following statement (or similar sentiments) a lot when talking about about the prospect of hiring those with criminal records, particularly those with felony convictions, here I go again.

True, some convictions prevent individuals from working in certain positions.  True, some of the most heinous offenders are unemployable.  True, those who hide or lie about their past are of concern to prospective employers.  True, people can successfully rehabilitate.  True, it is not the job of background screeners to prevent people from getting jobs.  We simply report the information that we find and let employers make informed hiring decisions.

Why the soliloquy? CNN just reported about a job fair for convicted felons in Houston and I find myself applauding the efforts of the organizers and for the 3,000 people who attended in search of gainful employment.  People often question how we can get behind efforts like this and I go into the rationale I conveyed above.  Criminal recidivism rates are a serious societal problem.  They soar when those released from prison can’t find jobs.  Therefore, when those with criminal records are honest about their past, vow not to repeat their mistakes and decide to get a job, I’m all for it.  BTW, even employers that knowingly hire convicted felons should still conduct employment background checks.

People Line Up at Job Fair for Convicted Felons

(CNN) — More than 3,000 people turned out in downtown Houston, Texas, Wednesday for a job fair designed for convicted felons.

Organizers of the Road to Re-entry Employment Fair, created to help those with criminal records find work and reintegrate into society, had expected a few hundred job people. The line of job seekers, which ran for a few blocks and tied up traffic, as reported by CNN affiliate KHOU, took the planners by surprise.

“These were not individuals trying to get concert tickets or a free dinner,” said Jarvis Johnson, a Houston City Council member who helped sponsor the inaugural event. “They were individuals who were waiting in line because they want to be productive members of society.”

Lavell Byrd was just one of the people who came out in search of work. He told KHOU that he hadn’t had a full-time position since December.

“I’m an ex-con, and that’s the main thing that’s holding me back,” Byrd said to KHOU. “It’s a very, very, very hard thing that people still look at what you did in the past and not what you can do in the future.”

Giving people like Byrd a chance to succeed and be a productive part of the work force is in the interest of all of us, said council member Johnson. If ex-criminals can’t findjobs, they’re more likely to land back in prison, he said.

“They made a mistake, but they’ve paid their debt to society,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are all going to pay if we don’t open the doors of opportunity — whether we become the victims [of future crimes] or we have to use our tax dollars to imprison them.”

And according to the Road to Re-Entry Web site, there are incentives in place to make hiring ex-offenders more appealing to employers. For one, the Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit gives tax credits to those who open their doors to those with criminal records.

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We are intrigued by how quickly and stealthly (word? we’ll add that to the “Nicktionary”) the March 1st deadline for complying with the new Massachusetts Data Security Regulations came and went.  We also think that there isn’t a whole lot of information out there about exactly who this affects and how they can comply; not even from the state’s attorney general.  So we sought the expert advice of Massachusetts attorney Michael S. Kraft to help educate us.  Check out our podcast below which highlights what the regulations entail, who they affect and how companies can get in compliance.  While the regulations are fairly sweeping and apply to more than just human resource practices, we focused on the personal data employers receive from job applicants and their employment applications and background check releases.

Also, Michael offered the following compliance checklist for employers:

• Develop a written information security plan (WISP);
• Identify all foreseeable risks in your organization by examining every nook and cranny where data enters, leaves or is stored;
• Implement security policies and procedures and train your employees
• Secure all paper and electronic records; provide encryption
• Obtain written assurances from all vendors that they are compliant
• Regularly monitor and review to insure compliance

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Many states are considering legislation to restrict or ban employers’ use of employment credit reports in the hiring process.  Credit reports are a valuable tool in the employment screening process and we’ve been vocal in our opposition to such legislation.  I found a great editorial piece on this issue in the Herald-Review (a downstate Illinois publication) and I could have said it better myself.  See below.

There are two reasons why this sort of legislation is a bad idea.

First, it puts more government regulations between an employee and an employer. Except in cases to ensure fair hiring practices, government should not be involved in how companies hire employees. Employers need to maintain the ability to hire people the way they want to hire. One way of screening applicants is to find out about their background, and their credit history is a part of that background. That’s a tool that should not be taken away by government.

More importantly, the pre-employment credit checks actually protect consumers. Money stolen from companies eventually is paid by the consumers.

Plus, do consumers really want to show their credit card to a cashier who has a gambling or substance abuse problem? Do consumers want to give personal information to a professional who is facing a mountain of debt and looking for some quick income? Do employees want the new local store manager to be someone who has repeatedly declared bankruptcy?

Banning credit checks is a popular idea, but few people are considering its overall impact. Businesses need to run these sorts of checks to protect themselves and the consumer.

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Jason Morris and I recently sat down with HRMarketer’s Elrond Lawrence for a podcast to discuss our white paper, Recruiting with Social Networking Sites: What You DO Know Can Hurt You.  Elrond asked some great questions that really shed light on the legalities involved, some horror stories and what employers need to know if they are considering the use of these site as part of the employment and background screening process.

Check out the podcast below and don’t forget to download this free white paper by clicking here.

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