College Students: Don’t Give Employers a Reason NOT to Hire You

You know what I mean here. Behave yourself because employers may find a reason not to hire you…

Any sort of “scuff-up” with the law, judicial issues on campus, credit issues you might have and even your own character will be looked at and possibly scrutinized when applying for that new job. So, watch yourself and make sure you don’t do anything that will give them a reason NOT to hire you! Most hiring companies perform background, criminal and even credit checks to verify your status and whether you are the right fit for them. Don’t worry here…they all have to ask you for a signature and maybe social security # to verify that you authorize them to perform these checks.

They even go so far as to check out your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter pages!

But check out some of these things that you should be aware of that can affect you in a negative (or positive) way in the future. This can make or break you when searching for that job.

1. Facebook… Twitter… Anthony Weiner. Enough said.

Be sure to clean it up on any Facebook or Twitter account that you have. Some (not all) will perform a Google search of your name. Do a Google search under your full name and see what comes up. Don’t be silly. Watch your “P’s” and “Q’s”

2. Background always:

In my lengthy and detailed search for a job I have yet to find a company that does NOT check my background, check on me. Though I’ve been searching primarily in education, almost all companies are asking for permission to perform a background check for someone being considered for employment. I find myself signing off and verifying my social security number to them so they can perform certain checks just to make sure I’m legit.

3. Other checks: Criminal, drivers record, background, character references….all have to do with your reputation. What you do may have consequences.

Many do ask permission for checking on criminal history or credit checks and driving record. If you’re applying for a job where you will be working with young people or traveling in your job you would be subject to these types of background checks.

4. Most of the time these checks only happen when they are considering you for employment, It costs them money to do these, so they usually wait until after one or two interviews.

Here again, you want to give them a reason to bring you back, and give them a reason to perform these checks. When they do, that just means they’re considering you for employment! I run into this a lot in my search and even though I feel comfortable with all checks on me, you may need to do some checking and ensure that you’re okay.

If you’re worried, go to sites like www.employeescreen.com or backgroundchecks.com to get more information about the background checks and what they typically check.