3 ms·

You can try (especially if you know ahead of time) but background check is done by a third party. Recruiters and interviewers don't care until background check

by sly010 5y ago

You can try (especially if you know ahead of time) but background check is done by a third party. Recruiters and interviewers don't care until background check flags it. You can try to be upfront about it, but it just creates a weird situation and they will defer to the 3rd party background check anyway. Any evidence you may share with the background check company is not present on the final background report (since it might contain salary information which would be illegal i guess). It's a little bit like credit reporting, if your bank misreports in a few places you are f*ed.

Kon-Peki 5y ago
3rd party background checks are notoriously noisy. Companies that expect them to be the Word of God are, at best, naïve. Every employer should be ready to resolve "discrepancies" that come back without any negative thoughts about the potential employee. If they can't or won't do that, I don't think you want to work for them. A few years ago, I was involved in a spinoff and they decided that all the employees would need to go through a background check. Of the ~90 people, something like 10 people (>10%!!!) had weird stuff that turned out to be completely wrong. For example, one person was reported to be currently in prison 5 states over. Some others were "we can't verify this person ever worked for ABC Corp". We were ABC Corp. Most of these background check companies, they'd say of course there are a lot of Mike Smiths around, but Patty Jones? No no, there has only ever been one Patty Jones in all of human history.
eloisant 5y ago
Yes, what I imagine would happen is that the background check company will contact you, you'll send them your last paycheck with your title on it and be done with it.
- tristor 5y ago
  Titles are almost never on paychecks, so there wouldn't be any such thing as a "last paycheck with your title on it." Also, a paycheck contains pay information, which is something you cannot legally be required to provide to a new/prospective employer, which the background check company is acting on behalf of.
FireBeyond 5y ago
I had a background check at an employer, not for a sensitive position, who, when unable to verify employment, found my Facebook and reached out to someone on there (who happened to be my partner) to see if they would "confirm" what they knew to be my job. That was after their initial email to me: "Hi, we're about to start your background check. Just want to confirm that this is the correct email address for you? Are these also the correct details for you? [And proceeded to list Full SSN, address, DOB]." Like, I'm really rather glad that this actual _was_ the correct email address. But in any case I was furious. On both counts. In credit to my employer, once I reviewed these two things with them, they fired the background check company.

by sly010 5y ago

Kon-Peki 5y ago

3rd party background checks are notoriously noisy. Companies that expect them to be the Word of God are, at best, naïve. Every employer should be ready to resolve "discrepancies" that come back without any negative thoughts about the potential employee. If they can't or won't do that, I don't think you want to work for them. A few years ago, I was involved in a spinoff and they decided that all the employees would need to go through a background check. Of the ~90 people, something like 10 people (>10%!!!) had weird stuff that turned out to be completely wrong. For example, one person was reported to be currently in prison 5 states over. Some others were "we can't verify this person ever worked for ABC Corp". We were ABC Corp. Most of these background check companies, they'd say of course there are a lot of Mike Smiths around, but Patty Jones? No no, there has only ever been one Patty Jones in all of human history.

eloisant 5y ago

Yes, what I imagine would happen is that the background check company will contact you, you'll send them your last paycheck with your title on it and be done with it.

tristor 5y ago
Titles are almost never on paychecks, so there wouldn't be any such thing as a "last paycheck with your title on it." Also, a paycheck contains pay information, which is something you cannot legally be required to provide to a new/prospective employer, which the background check company is acting on behalf of.

FireBeyond 5y ago

I had a background check at an employer, not for a sensitive position, who, when unable to verify employment, found my Facebook and reached out to someone on there (who happened to be my partner) to see if they would "confirm" what they knew to be my job. That was after their initial email to me: "Hi, we're about to start your background check. Just want to confirm that this is the correct email address for you? Are these also the correct details for you? [And proceeded to list Full SSN, address, DOB]." Like, I'm really rather glad that this actual _was_ the correct email address. But in any case I was furious. On both counts. In credit to my employer, once I reviewed these two things with them, they fired the background check company.