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  • LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

Can employer's find out your job history even if ommitted from a job application?

No, they can't, unless one of your references mentions other places you've worked that they know about. I mean, how would they go about doing that? It's impossible.

But, if there are gaps in your employment history they'll ask what you were doing during that time. In your position I would make up something that requires the least amount of lying. Say you were traveling or something.
 
Don't nearly all employers do background checks? Jobs don't show up on those?
 
kzorro said:
Don't nearly all employers do background checks? Jobs don't show up on those?
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This is what I was thinking. When you have a job you normally pay into Social Security, so when they run your Social Security number for background checks your other jobs might show up. I'm not 100% sure if this is the case but it is worth further investigation.

I agree with satricion, be prepared to lie when they ask about gaps in employment.
 
Wow. They definitely couldn't do this in Australia. Employers don't have access to those kinds of details. That they can do it in America is a little scary.
 
I expect more severe checks for a casino job. When i worked in one, i had to go through a bunch of checks, including police checks.

but then again, what would be irregular/suspect about a job not used as a reference?
 
satricion said:
Wow. They definitely couldn't do this in Australia. Employers don't have access to those kinds of details. That they can do it in America is a little scary.
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Well it's less about the employers directly being able to do it, and more about third-party employee screening and records search companies doing the digging. For example, the HIPPA prohibits employers from asking certain things about a person's medical history. But those employers can turn around and hire records search companies who can dig to pretty alarming depths. Sure, the employer cannot then directly not hire the person over what is found, but could instead "hire candidate B for his outstanding interview," if you get what I mean. As background-checking becomes more prominent, little games like this can and will become more often played. It kind of creates for a paranoid employee, but alas....life sucks at times.
 
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Yes they can, if you worked for a job that hired you legally, paid you on the books, and reported your employment to the government for tax purposes. There are private investigation companies whose line of work is mining whatever information they can get their hands on regarding the names their clients give them, and putting together dossiers. As RedLeader said, you'd probably be horrified what one of these companies could turn up if you paid them and gave them your own name.

The thing is, hiring a private dick isn't cheap. You're really only looking at this amount of scrutiny if the employer is well off, and the job requires a high level of trust, responsibility, or security clearance, and there are quite a few well-qualified candidates vying for it. I would not tell the whitest of lies, either on the application or in the interview, if I was applying for such a position. I would just have a good (and succinct, and contrite) explanation ready, for any details about my past I wasn't proud of, if they happened to ask. Employers may or may not judge you for a spotty work history. But no employers have even the slightest tolerance for applicants or employees who've been dishonest with them -- many even make you sign a form agreeing to your immediate termination if they hire you, and then AT ANY TIME discover you lied during the application process.

So don't do anything on a high-trust job that would make the higher-ups look at you with suspicion, because that prompts background checks too. It's kind of like most places that drug test -- unless the place outright tells you that they randomly drug test everyone at regular intervals, then after an initial preemployment screen, chances are they'll only drug test you again if you injure yourself on the job (for insurance and Disability payment purposes), or someone suspects you're messed up at work.

Most employers who take your fingerprints and send them off to a private investigator are only going to get back your criminal record, maybe your driving record, and perhaps some information about what cities and towns you've lived in. There'll be nothing about who you worked for. The only way they verify that is by calling your references, typically.
 
Employers may very well be able to do this, but whether they're legally allowed to discriminate based on this information (such as driving record for example) is a completely different matter.

For example, if you found out that some personal data had been gathered and you didn't get a job, it would be difficult, but possibly to sue for discrimination.
 
^ That's why highly picky and well off employers retain lawyers who tell them how to discriminate in such a way that their tracks are covered and it's impossible to prove. Picking a legal fight with someone much bigger and stronger than you is kind of like winning the jackpot in the lottery -- it happens, and is highly publicized when it does. But most people who try just end up broke and humiliated.
 
Pre trial intervention

:I recently went on a job interview and aced the first initial talk. Now a few minutes ago i get a call and I have to come back for the second one, Now heres the kicker a back grounf check and drug test. As for the drug test im fine i dont even smoke weed nothing pills nothing. but the back ground check scares me im on pti .I've been out of work for 6 months due to standing up and i just could not shut my mouth and it cost me. I really need tis job i guess what im askingis how long can they go back and does pti show up. in newjersy of course.
 
satricion said:
Wow. They definitely couldn't do this in Australia. Employers don't have access to those kinds of details. That they can do it in America is a little scary.
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In the United States you also essentially lose 90% of your potential after being busted for pretty much any drug offense.

You become sort of like a pariah to the community since stereotypes of people who use go far beyond any logical boundaries.
 
In the past, I've always had a collection of references who lie for me. However, if someone gets hold of your tax records, then you won't hear back from them if there is too much disagreement. When asking a board or yourself whether or not an employer can dig deep, you should backtrack and ask yourself: if it was my money and my company, and every person I hire for this position puts me at a certain amount of risk, would I let the laws stop me from seeing whether someone had embellished a little too much on a resume? Personally, my answer is no. I would run their social security through a skiptrace program through a friend who can cover up the electronic paper trail. I'd give him a sheet of paper with the SSN and toss him a burner phone and fifty bucks. I'd end up with a list of mom's last five employers and the neighbors' dogs' names, no problem. The technology is out there, and what's ironic is that the most damaging and complete background information is being accessed daily by the lowest-paid workforce. Your information, as a commodity, flows freely in the private sector and is able to be accessed in a decidedly public manner without the go-ahead from any authority.
 
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