15 Ways Companies Check You Out Before Saying, "You're Hired!"

You want the job. You're qualified for the job. Why can't the company just give you the job?

Did you really think it was going to be easy?

Are you kidding? Employers want to know who they're hiring, and they're going to be pretty darn intrusive in checking you out before extending you an offer. 

In case you were wondering, companies have many ways they vet job candidates before hiring them. Some you may have expected, others may surprise you. You will experience some combination of the below. Employers apply the old Reagan-ism: Trust but verify. And, by the way, this list is far from complete. There are other ways for companies to gather information about you...

1. The Resume - Your resume serves so many purposes to somebody reading it. It's a spelling test. It's a grammar test. It's a Microsoft Word publishing test. It's an honesty test. Reviewers will make several judgments about you, just based upon that 1 to 2 page resume.
2. Interviews - Grueling meetings with employees of the company. Usually includes the hiring manager, sometimes peers, human resources, internal customers, or anybody with a stake in the hiring decision.
3. Criminal Background Checks - Employers want to see if you can be trusted with the keys to the company car, or if you're going to take it straight to the chop shop first time you drive off.
4. Employment Verification - Did you really work at the company, in the role you indicated, for the pay you detailed? Let's find out!
5. Credit Checks - Another measure of trustworthiness. How do you handle your finances? If you've declared bankruptcy or have overdue bills, what does that say about your ability to manage company resources? Will your expense report be a bit padded to cover your personal expenses?
6. Physicals - It's rare (but not unheard of) to be sent to the doctor for an evaluation if either your job involves a great deal of physical activity, or if you're considered so critical to the organization that they need to make sure you're healthy.
7. Skills Testing - The job requires you to be good at Microsoft PowerPoint - would you be willing to take a timed exam to see just how skilled you really are?
8. Psychological / Personality Testing - These come in many flavors, but the purpose is the same - employers want to see how well you fit within the organization, and what are your predicted behaviors and predilections.
9. Polygraph - The old lie detector. Legal in several states, another test of your trustworthiness. Don't be surprised to take one of these when applying for security or law enforcement roles.
10. References - You provide the names and numbers of former supervisors or coworkers, and the company speaks with them to find out what a swell guy or gal you were.
11. Informal References - Major gray area; this is when somebody at the company says, "Hey, I know somebody who used to work with that guy at my old employer! Let me get the skinny!" Then they do this without the applicant's knowledge or consent.
12. Deep Background / Character Investigations - Applying to a position requiring access to top secret data? You might get an investigator or G-man poking around, asking your neighbors about your most personal details.
13. Asking Around - The hiring manager may ask people who interacted with you, how you behaved. Better have treated that receptionist with dignity and respect...
14. Your Social Media - Who says they won't find those pictures on Facebook from your drunken escapade in Tijuana? And do you know what comes up in Google when somebody enters your name? How's that picture on your LinkedIn profile?
15. Drug & Substance Testing - About that trip to Tijuana...

Bottom line: There's a lot of information about you out there, and companies won't be shy in gathering as much as they can before deciding whether to offer you a job. Be prepared!

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

How The $%&! Did That Recruiter Find Me On LinkedIn? We're Not Even Remotely Connected!

You're checking your LinkedIn account, and you notice you've got a note from somebody you've never heard of. She's a recruiter from a company you may have heard of, but you're not even remotely connected.

How did she find you? Aren't there limits on who people can see and connect with on LinkedIn?

I'm sure you've seen the offers for LinkedIn Premium subscriptions. These give you extra bells and whistles, and let you go a little bit further than you can with the free account. For example, you get InMails you can use to reach out to folks who aren't first level connections, or you can search further beyond your immediate network.

But did you know that LinkedIn also markets corporate subscriptions to companies big and small? These give corporate recruiters better search capability, visibility into almost everybody with an account, and a beefy number of InMails so that they can reach hundreds of job seekers.

Guess What!: LinkedIn is a job board. Whether you want it to be, or not.

In other words, recruiters are constantly combing the outer reaches of LinkedIn to find their next employee. Are you ready?

Here's how you can be ready:

• Make sure your profile picture is ready for prime time.  I'm not going to go into depth on this here, but I wrote a previous piece about the appropriateness of your profile picture. A clean, professional head shot will leave a positive impression. Don't do anything silly on your LinkedIn picture. Recruiters will make their initial judgment on your professionalism based on your photo alone, and you may never get a call if your picture is goofy or too revealing.
• Maintain a professionally constructed profile. Employers want to see a complete profile. It's essentially a temporary substitute for your resume, so make sure that it has all your key details and jobs in there. By the way, if you send a resume to a company first, they will likely compare it to your LinkedIn profile to ensure there are no discrepancies.
• Include your contact information somewhere in the profile. Not everybody checks their InMails all the time, so including an email address will often ensure a quicker response.
• If you don't want to be found, make sure your settings reflect this. Go into your settings, and turn off your profile visibility. Although, there's not really much point to being on LinkedIn if you don't want to be seen.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Three Weekly Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Job Hunting Tips for October 19, 2015

Lemon Squeezy

Here are three simple job hunting tips for you to begin your week!

1. The grammar police are on patrol! It is no longer considered acceptable to have two spaces after a period; one is now the norm. Apparently using two spaces is a red flag that you're over 40 since that's how we (yes, we - and I 'm changing my habits kicking and screaming) were taught in those days. Check your resume and your LinkedIn profile to make sure you're following the one-space rule. Don't believe me? Follow this link for more information.
2. Manage your voice mail. Any company looking to speak with you will call the phone number on your resume. They most likely will get your voice mail. Is it professional? Does it clearly indicate that they are reaching your specific mailbox? I've seen many candidates eliminate themselves just by having an obnoxious outgoing voice mail message. Oh, and if you're applying for a job, make sure you have enough space for people to leave incoming messages. If the voice mail system doesn't let the recruiter leave a message, they won't. They'll probably move onto the next candidate.
3. Use the restroom before your interviews begin. You'll kill the rhythm of your interview session if you need to stop in the middle and ask to use the john.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.