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Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Human Resources preemployment screening Staffing Uncategorized

Employment Screening on the Rise with Economic Recovery

Most employment screening services will tell you that employment screening is on the rise as a result of the economic recover.  There are more jobs on the market and less people re filing first time unemployment claims.   Along with the the increased need for employment screening, it seems employers re conducting a more comprehensive package of background checks.   Certain employers have new issues to contend with, not the least of which is satisfying compliance standards for federal contracts.

More jobs came out of leisure and healthcare.  Construction and manufacturing are still in the doldrums, although we see advances in heavy industry and manufacturing.  I presume this is due to a lot of export of heavy equipment, etc.  In all, the private sector added 113,000 new jobs.

First time unemployment claims have recently dipped from 422,000 to 388,000.   It was reported that the unemployment rate has fallen to 9.4 percent.   These numbers are not massive celebration but they do indicate the economy may be headed in the right direction.  Finally.

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Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Human Resources Miscellany preemployment screening Recruiting Staffing Uncategorized

Employment Candidates Who Run Background Checks on Themselves

Jerry Thurber on Toolbox.com asked an interesting question.   He posted a brief article asking recruiters if they would ever use their candidates’ pre-sceen.  In simple terms, Thurber wonders if recruiters would ever use background checks instead of conducting their own employment screening program.  Can you trust the background checks a job applicant runs on himself?

An interesting question.   There may be a perception of advantages,  but in my humble opinion the advantages are illusory.   A recruiter, trusting a background check his candidate brought in may find himself embarrassed or in a worst case scenario confronting liability issues.

As I responded to the question, doing so may be asking for trouble, or at least for some quizzical discrepancies.   The first involves degree presenations that may emanate from diploma mills or unacredited colleges.  Or taking the candidate’s word that his diploma and graduation certificate is authentic, invites the possibility that it was a counterfiet degree, doctored with Photo Shop.  Don’t think it happens?  It happens more than you think.

The same holds true with criminal records.  Reports can be amended,  okay, doctored, or it is possible your candidate neglected to run criminal background checks in the places where he has lived but encountered a problem.   Unless you run the Social Security Trace you may never know where exactly a candidate lived before his current address.  You could miss an important criminal record.

There are other reasons, but these are probably the most significant.   Trusting that an employment candidate conducted comprehensive employment screening on himself is an invitation for disaster.   Don’t take his word for it.  Check them out before you hire.

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Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Human Resources Miscellany preemployment screening Recruiting Staffing Uncategorized

Can We Expect New Employment Candidates from Southern Europe

It’s no secret that economically speaking Southern Europe is in the doldrums.    The economy in those nations makes our economy look downright robust.   According to an article in the New York Times, younger employment candidates are increasingly frustrated.  They can’t find work and not only are job prospect dismal, finding work in their chosen professions is a seriously difficult challenge.

The New York Times article reports even people with legal training are working as unpaid interns.  For this work, there is no pensions benefits, not much of anything, really.  Lack of work has resulted in violent outbursts and increased restiveness.   Some young employees are migrating to Northern Europe and even countries further from their homes.   There is a definite malaise with the belief that there is little if any future at all.

So I guess the question is when are they coming here to the United States to look for work?   With the American economy only beginning to turnaround and the job market extremely competitive, it is possible that we will soon see a new group of migrant workers.   These are educated workers, highly skilled, seeking work wherever they can find it.   And if they do emigrate to the United States as well as, possibly, Asia and distant places, how will employers and recruiters be able to vet them?

It will be essential to conduct international education verification as part of the employment screening process.   International criminal searches are most likely a necessity.  Because if there is a flood of qualified candidates, vetting the authentically skilled from those who have falsified degrees, etc, will be an intensified process.

But then here is the other issue.  Those with high qualifications and much needed skills sets are presenting finding it more difficult to immigrate to the United States.   In fact, the immigration process is severely bottle necked.   Employers go wanting for qualified people.   Jobs requiring specific skill sets remain unfilled for long periods of time.   All when people need work.

Ah, the world we live in.  So confusing at times.   Check them out before you hire.   If your candidates ever get here.

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Background Checks Criminal Records preemployment screening Recruiting Staffing Uncategorized

Massachusetts County Courts Closed Because of Snow

Please be advised that Massachusetts County Courts will be closed today, Wednesday, January 11,  due to snow.  Wednesday, January 12, 2011, due to snow.