A potential employee wants to be the best candidate and standout among a large pool of candidates. Standing out in a group of large applicants, especially a group screened first by a computer before a human resource representative reads the resume, can lead candidates to not be truthful about their experience, whether it is exaggerating about where he or she worked, the duties of past positions, and degrees acquired. Such examples of resume padding include a candidate misrepresenting his educational background by stating he finished college when he never did, adding a masters degree when he only received a bachelors, or even listing another major – journalism instead of English literature, for example. Similarly for employment, a candidate can inflate his salary or hourly amount, list he had a promotion when he never had one, and possibly misrepresent about dates of employment.
While resumes and interviews can screen out certain candidates, a background check can screen even further to take out candidates who are misrepresenting their skill levels. After all, an employer wants to have the best qualified, most responsible employee possible. When an employer runs a background check on a candidate, two aspects of his past history checked are his education and employment. This simply verifies the information on a candidate’s resume – or it can reveal certain discrepancies.
When previous employers are checked, the information showing up in a background check includes the name, location, and telephone number of a previous employer, as well as contact information for a supervisor. Other information includes the candidate’s dates of employment, as well as his ending job title and salary. An employer may also leave a comment about the worker’s work ethic and attendance.
The education section of a background check is similar to the listing of previous employers, only the report checks the information listed in the resume to the information listed by the school. Each school the candidate attended has its name, location, and telephone number listed, as well as the dates of the candidate’s attendance, major, type of degree earned, and if he or she graduated. Occasionally, the registrar’s office may leave a comment in regards to the amount of credits earned and graduation status.