How a nasty past may cost your job

By  PETER KAMURI

You have received an invitation for a job interview. You are upbeat about getting that dream job.

 Just when you are about to start celebrating, thinking the hard part is over; your prospective employer tells you he will carry out a background check.

This puts you off balance.  Whom are they going to get the information from?  What will they be looking for? What are they going to unearth?  Will they discover that I falsified my academic certificates? These are some of the concerns that register in your mind.

Carrying out background checks is a normal practice before hiring new employees. Many organisations and companies dig into a candidate’s past for a number of reasons. However, what the prospective employer wants to check may vary from one job to another.

 It may also differ from one organisation to another. Most of them screen to establish the integrity of the potential employees.

Employers may want to establish whether you have ever been involved in any financial impropriety. This is particularly one of the common background checks for those who aspire to work in financial field.

 A bad credit history can also easily ruin your chances as it may be used to gauge your level of responsibility. Have you ever been involved in criminal activities?

Criminal history

 Hiring employees with a criminal record can be expensive for a company both in terms of cost and reputation. That is why criminal history matters. However, the organisation can decide how much further in the past they should check.

Most companies also want to do job applicant’s background checks to establish what former employees can say in relation to the ‘employability’ of the job seeker.

This may be on matters of integrity, dependability and the values one stands for. Did you cheat in your curriculum vitae (CV)? Through background checks, your employer wants to find out whether your CV is telling the truth. Recruiters say almost half of most CVs contain falsehood and that is why it would be important to corroborate the information given. Other critical information the employer may want to authenticate may be on your educational background.

Do not be surprised if he calls your former school to confirm the grade you got or if you actually graduated from the college indicated on your CV. Do you pay your taxes to the taxman? Have you repaid your university loan or you have been dodging the loan body over the years? These are among the issues your prospective employer may just be interested in.

 Pre-employment screenings and background checks can determine whether you will get a job or not. Many employers are taking them seriously and every prospective job seeker should be well prepared ahead to avoid last minute embarrassment. 

—kamuri@benchmarkpublishers.co.ke