Mediaman Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Long story, I'll try to keep it brief, Friday 2pm I was offered a job, think about it over the weekend and call us back. Monday morning, 10am HR director calls back and says that one of my references came back with "Not what we wanted to hear" and the offer was withdrawn So now I'm beside myself calling my references and none of my references received any calls regarding my employment history. The HR director also went on to say that it might not have been one of my references and they could have called any of my past employers. She said she did not have to tell me who it was. This has me going crazy, was it that they found someone else cheaper and used this as an excuse or who is the "bad mouthing" party. Could credit history play into a part, as my family and I have suffered for the past 4 years with a single source of income? What if any rights do I have? What do I do on the next job interview/application process. This previous one was for a lawfirm, it dept. Luckily I am still employed, just looking for bigger better. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffy bill Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Sorry to hear about that man... I have some experience in this, but from the other side and it's usually something really concrete (like you said you had a degree and the background check came back that you did not) but even so we give the candidate a chance to explain and work with them. We had a young guy last year just graduated and we hired him. His BC came back and it said he hadn't graduated so we asked him and it turned out his college required internship credit before he could graduate. So we turned him into an intern until he satisfied the requirement, get his degree, then turned him to regular status. If it's a reference thing, then it sounds like this firm is hardcore and not even willing to work with you on it. Good luck man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Long story Thanks, 217225[/snapback] It doesn't sound like the kind of place you would want to work at. Move on, life is too short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch19079 Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 that sucks.... do you know anyone who works there who might have mentioned something bad about you to the people in charge?? i dont know what you do, but maybe they asked a few clients or contacts: "have you ever worked with this guy". maybe they got a negative responce from one of them..... my company does work with alof of companies. if you piss one of them off, the word gets around. kinda hurts your reputation. maybe they are doing buisness with one of those who had a negative experience with your old company, and remembered your name... i dont know what you can do about that though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediaman Posted January 24, 2005 Author Share Posted January 24, 2005 that sucks.... do you know anyone who works there who might have mentioned something bad about you to the people in charge?? i dont know what you do, but maybe they asked a few clients or contacts: "have you ever worked with this guy". maybe they got a negative responce from one of them..... my company does work with alof of companies. if you piss one of them off, the word gets around. kinda hurts your reputation. maybe they are doing buisness with one of those who had a negative experience with your old company, and remembered your name... i dont know what you can do about that though... 217252[/snapback] I am looking at the past client/contact part of it. I am reaching out to so many people and calling in so many favors. Again, I wasn't going to take the position, but I am worried about my future. I can stay at this job for the foreseeable future, but its very boring, dead end work. But the pay and commute are good. Benefits are lacking. Thanks for all your inputs. AD: I know life is short, but its thorns in my side that make you stop and pull them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 AD: I know life is short, but its thorns in my side that make you stop and pull them out. 217392[/snapback] Really? I just burn down their sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 I am not sure what your options are, legally, if you even have any. I can tell you though, many large companies (and government institutions) will not give out references, good or bad, anymore, for fear of law suits. Where I work, I routinely get requests for refernences. I am only allowed to give factual info (length/time employed by, salary, etc. etc), never subjective info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 I am not sure what your options are, legally, if you even have any. I can tell you though, many large companies (and government institutions) will not give out references, good or bad, anymore, for fear of law suits. Where I work, I routinely get requests for refernences. I am only allowed to give factual info (length/time employed by, salary, etc. etc), never subjective info. 217414[/snapback] I tell them all the same thing: "If they were any good, they'd still be working here!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevbeau Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Building on this topic... If a company decides not to extend an offer because they see something they don't like on a credit report, do they have to let you know? The reason I ask is that a buddy of mine recently interviewed for a job he thought he had in the bag. He's got great experience, two masters degrees, etc...but the company hired someone with "better experience." He ran into a spot of financial difficulty a few years ago taking care of a sick parent, so his credit is shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gantrules Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Building on this topic... If a company decides not to extend an offer because they see something they don't like on a credit report, do they have to let you know? The reason I ask is that a buddy of mine recently interviewed for a job he thought he had in the bag. He's got great experience, two masters degrees, etc...but the company hired someone with "better experience." He ran into a spot of financial difficulty a few years ago taking care of a sick parent, so his credit is shot. 218025[/snapback] We run a credit report on all new hires. If the credit is poor we ask for an explaination. Usually if we get to that point we are going to hire the person anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediaman Posted January 25, 2005 Author Share Posted January 25, 2005 Building on this topic... If a company decides not to extend an offer because they see something they don't like on a credit report, do they have to let you know? The reason I ask is that a buddy of mine recently interviewed for a job he thought he had in the bag. He's got great experience, two masters degrees, etc...but the company hired someone with "better experience." He ran into a spot of financial difficulty a few years ago taking care of a sick parent, so his credit is shot. 218025[/snapback] We thought about our credit history as well, we have suffered in the past few years. My wife became a stay at home mom when our first child was born, in 2000. We went 2 salaries down to one. Then I was layed off in 2003 and again at the beginning of 2004. Here is what I found about credit history and job applications: "An employer is supposed to tell you if credit information is used against you. If an employer uses credit information to deny an applicant a job, fire a current employee, rescind a job offer or cancel a promotion, federal law requires the employer to do two things: Before the “adverse action” is actually taken, the employer is supposed to provide the worker with a copy of the report and an explanation of the worker’s FCRA rights. After the action is taken, the worker must be told which company provided the credit information, given contact information and told he or she has a right to dispute the report’s accuracy. Rather than go through all this, of course, many employers simply find a less complicated excuse to give you. Your ability to dispute the information may be of limited use, as well. If your employer’s decision was based on erroneous data in your credit report, for example, it could take you months to get the problem corrected -- by which time someone else will have been hired for the position you wanted." Again the offer was withdrawn and I'm not upset about that as I wasn't going to take it, but I need to worry about future application. I've contacted all my past employers and they all claim that they would be fair and give me a positive report. One aspect is that on the final interview, I was questioned by a systems integrator who was not an employee of the firm, he was just there to ask the techy questions. He mentioned one of my past employers and a specific individual. I think thats where the weak link may lie. If thats the case I owe this individual a slashed tire at the train station. And the good thing is that I don't think a situation like this will happen again, where a vendor would interview me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Where I used to work, we had strict guidelines that we never gave references without the written permission of the employee. Also, phone references were verboten; we only gave them in writing and kept a copy on file. I'm not sure if this practice was required by law, or if it was just the organization covering their butts. Either way, it seemed to be a good practice and fair to everyone involved. Don't know how this info helps you, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnykterstein Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 What I know off the top of my head: Unless you give the company you are applying for express permission to ask anything, they cannot recieve negative information about you from your past employers. Pretty much they can only call up and say "Did this person work there?". So did you sign any papers saying they could ask anything they wanted? If not you'll have a case and should contact a lawyer or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 What I know off the top of my head:Unless you give the company you are applying for express permission to ask anything, they cannot recieve negative information about you from your past employers. Pretty much they can only call up and say "Did this person work there?". So did you sign any papers saying they could ask anything they wanted? If not you'll have a case and should contact a lawyer or something. 218044[/snapback] Yes, and that's a shame. Nowadays, you can be a real jerk yet escape consequences for your previous actions. In my hiring days under the current "everybody is beautiful" garbage, I asked this question of references - "Would you hire this individual again?". Worked well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloWings Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Building on this topic... If a company decides not to extend an offer because they see something they don't like on a credit report, do they have to let you know? The reason I ask is that a buddy of mine recently interviewed for a job he thought he had in the bag. He's got great experience, two masters degrees, etc...but the company hired someone with "better experience." He ran into a spot of financial difficulty a few years ago taking care of a sick parent, so his credit is shot. 218025[/snapback] Well, it's reasons like this that you should clear up your credit history (provided there is anything erroneous) or at least know what employers would look at. Even if you know there's something questionable in your background check, at least you'd be prepared to explain it. I don't think you can prevent an employer to actively go outside of your references for info about you, so if they "happen to come across something" that could make them hesitant, there's nothing you can do about it. Stuff like this strikes me as more unprofessional than anything illegal. I've been to interviews where I *know* I did well, yet I never hear from the company again. My phone calls and emails would go unreturned, which frustrates the hell out of me since I want to know why I wasn't given an offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardy Pyle Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 How does your credit rating correlate with hiring a good employee? I don't get it? Do I care how my employees manage money and spend it, as long as they do a a good job from 8-5 while they are at work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloWings Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 How does your credit rating correlate with hiring a good employee? I don't get it? Do I care how my employees manage money and spend it, as long as they do a a good job from 8-5 while they are at work? 218212[/snapback] If they can't manage their own finances, would you expect them to manage their own job? If they're constantly late paying bills, can you trust them to meet deadlines at work? IMO, it's all about trust. If you're considering hiring someone who hasn't managed his/her money well in the past, think about whether or not you could trust them to do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediaman Posted January 25, 2005 Author Share Posted January 25, 2005 If they can't manage their own finances, would you expect them to manage their own job? If they're constantly late paying bills, can you trust them to meet deadlines at work? IMO, it's all about trust. If you're considering hiring someone who hasn't managed his/her money well in the past, think about whether or not you could trust them to do the job. 218236[/snapback] That being said, and my recent decline in credit performance, would it be wise to explain before any active background checks are performed to explain the situation and why we are in it before they search? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan III Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 That being said, and my recent decline in credit performance, would it be wise to explain before any active background checks are performed to explain the situation and why we are in it before they search? 218244[/snapback] I wouldn't bring it up. If they have questions, usually, they will ask.. Remember, it's easier to get forgiveness than permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 That being said, and my recent decline in credit performance, would it be wise to explain before any active background checks are performed to explain the situation and why we are in it before they search? 218244[/snapback] If you think it's appropriate to bring it up - and that a big if - then do so. I fondly remember the days when a man was taken at his own word, but these days unfortunalely it's guilty until proven inocent - sad Personally, someone's credit history would never stop me from hiring someone - do I think the fellow or gal can perform in the job or not is what mattered to me. I totally reject commentary that says "...well if you can't manage your personal finances etc." Very competent people can fall into a financial hole... Personnel people at the first level are generally not the sharpest knife in the bunch - many of them are dull sorts who slave to some sort of rigid guideline, lack basic skills in interviewing, often get their own jobs because they are visually "pretty", and are usually low-paid, petulant martinets or toadys. They routinely "X" out potential valuable employees because of their checklist mentality and lack of brains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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