Looking for a Job? Follow these Tips to help You Optimize your Resume and Application Now!

Applying for a job can be exciting…but it can also be stressful. You worry whether your application or resume will create interest and then whether you will be called in for an interview at all.

But if you are offered the job, one thing you can count on is that you will be subject to some kind of background check. And while you may think you have little control over this part of the process, you could not be more wrong.

There are definite steps you can take that will not only expedite the process but also paint you in an even more favorable light with any employer.

And those steps start with your resume and application.

Over the years we have seen how incomplete or error filled resumes and applications add time to the screening process. They can even take an applicant right out of the running…even if they have aced the interview! 

The best way for you to avoid this happening to you is to take steps now to ensure that your resume or application is as complete and effective as it can be!

Whether you provide a prepared resume, need to fill out an application, or both, it is important that before you start you have on hand all the information you need...and following these tips will help!

As a general rule, the more precise your resume and application the better. It is also important that if filling out an application on site instead of online, that your writing is neat and legible.

Here is a list of the information you need ~ 

Employments ~ When listing the jobs you have held, you should be ready to provide the following information for each:

• Name of the company, their full address, and company phone number and website
• Exact dates and title of the position(s) you held
• Names of 2 sources within the company that can verify your employment (direct supervisors, HR, co-workers) and up to date contact information for each, including both their phone number and email address.

References ~ provide the following information for each:

• Name / address
• working contact phone number and email address
• your relationship with the reference (personal, professional, both)
• how long you have known the reference

Education ~ start with your most recent degree, diploma, and certification(s) and list the following:

• name, location, phone number and email address of the department within the institution that provides verifications 
• date of graduation or dates of attendance

Addresses ~ you will need to list anywhere you have lived in the past 7-10 years (whichever is required by potential employer) starting with your current address and working backwards:

• your full addresses including house / apartment number, street name, city, zip code
• dates of your residency
• whether you owned or rented the property

Taking the time to have all this information on hand prior to submitting your application or resume makes sense.

Not only will it help you complete the application more quickly, it will make your resume more thorough. it will also show you to be prepared and professional and help your background check run as smoothly and quickly as possible.

And that is good for you and your potential new employer!

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How do Employers Verify a Degree?

Do you know exactly how, and more importantly why, employers verify their applicants’ degree, graduation, or other education?

This question was recently posted on a popular Q & A site and we decided to weigh in…

“How do employers check for degrees?”

“Verifying a degree / graduation is one of the easiest and most basic things checked by most employers. The best source for this information is to contact the university / school directly. Most records are held by either the Registrar department or, especially in the case of high schools, in the Guidance or Student Records department. If your only need is to verify the degree, and not a person’s full academic record, it is sometimes possible to verify that verbally. There are times when the information needs to be faxed or mailed and they will then require a nominal fee. 

However, if more in depth information is needed, or the institution has contracted with an outside verification service, you will have to follow that service’s steps in order to get the information you need. Oftentimes these services will require a fee to access the information and sometimes a signed release from the subject of the search is also needed (which you should always obtain before any background check anyway). No matter the method, verifying any degree, graduation, or professional certificate claimed by an applicant is key to making a sound hiring decision. Not only will it help assess their training, knowledge, and qualifications, it will also go a long way towards verifying an applicant’s honesty ~ and that is a goal of any good background check.”

You can find more answers to this question here!

Verifying an applicant’s education is a great first step in evaluating any prospective employee ~ and a good employer understands this.

Hiring someone who lies about their education or training can pose numerous problems for any business. 

It can lead to having an employee who is unqualified for the job. Or, if and when that lie is discovered, it can tarnish a company’s reputation with their clients, customers, and other businesses. 

Doing a simple Education verification check solves these problems.

“Education is one of the most frequently embellished ~ face it, lied about ~ items on a resume. The lie can range from the type of degree earned to whether a degree was even earned at all.

And if having a degree, especially a specific degree, is necessary to the job you are hiring for, then making sure your applicant indeed fills that requirement is good business.

For some jobs, having a degree may not be necessary. In that case companies are more concerned that their applicants have at least earned their high school diplomas or a GED.

Either way, it is important that you take the time to verify that the education listed by your applicant is true.

It should be the first step in making sure they have the training your position needs”.

Find out more about why businesses need to verify an applicant’s education and what they will find in “Hiring? Why You need to verify their Degree First”!

It is clear that doing an education verification before making any new hire is in a company’s best interests. But it is equally as important for anyone looking for a job to realize that any resume lie can, and often will, come back to haunt them.

Those lies can not only keep you from getting hired in the first place, but when discovered, can lead to getting fired and ruining your reputation.

Anyone looking for a job needs to be aware that Background Checks are the norm, not the exception.

“Be assured, employers are checking. Verifying the information on your resume is common practice and part of most company’s hiring processes. Investigating your education, past employments, and skills top the list. 

It is time to take note ~when your resume lies are uncovered during the hiring process, you lose.  

And, if discovered later, you could face not only the embarrassment of getting fired, but also the possibility of public humiliation”.

When it comes to Resume Lies that will keep you from getting hired or can result in you being fired, “lying about your degree or skills tops the list”. 

Employers fear hiring someone who is unable or unsafe to do the job. That is why it is important that at least the basic skills and training you list are truthful.

Lying on your resume is seen as a mark against your honesty. 

Employers want to hire someone they can trust. If their first impression of you is one of deception, then your chances of getting hired are slim

Discover more about the dangers of lying on your resume in “Employers Share ~ Lie on your Resume and You Lose!".

So, whether you are an employer looking to make a new hire or an applicant hoping to land the perfect new job, checking an applicant’s qualifications first should always be part of the process. Preparing for this important step long beforehand is the key.

Are you ready or do you have any questions? Contact API Today, we are here to help!

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Our Top Articles of 2022

Once again it is the time when we share our most popular articles from the past year! 

We love knowing which posts resonated with you, our readers, and which just didn’t catch on.

As in years past, our top blog posts centered around Your Job Search and the Employment Background Check, for both those looking for a job and those hiring!

Let’s get started…

Our first popular post centered on your resume and what information will help or hurt your job search.

The question is this…Will unpaid work experience cause a problem in the employer verification part of your background check?

"Unpaid, volunteer, or intern type positions are great additions to any resume ~ especially when they yielded skills or experience that can translate to your career! Including them will not cause any issues when it comes to the employment background check unless you try to pass them off as Paid Positions. That would send off a bright red flag! However, including them as unpaid references will help you as long as when contacted, they have something nice to say. That is why I recommend that you contact any reference long before you list them on your resume. Give them a “heads up” that they may be contacted and ask them if they are willing to give you a good reference. Even finding out in advance what information past employers will give to potential employers or screening companies is in your best interest. This way you will be prepared as to what an employment background check will find!”.

Instead of feeling angst when you apply for any job, your best bet is to be prepared. And it all starts with your resume!

Making sure your resume is completely truthful is the best start. The key is to make sure all your information is clear and accurate, and following these 6 tips will help!

1. Make sure your resume is “clean”
2. Make sure you never list a degree you haven’t earned
3. Make sure all past employments are accurate
4. Make sure you know what your past employers will say about you
5. Make sure you can mitigate any employment “gaps”
6. Make sure you have done a background check on yourself first

Check out more tips on how you can optimize your resume to help you get the job here!

Our next top article explored what past employers can really say about you during the background check.

Do you really know what a former employer will say about you?

"Employers can choose to reveal anything about you, your work performance, and even reason for leaving as long as it is the truth! However, that doesn’t mean that they will! 

Due to fear of litigation, many employers choose to only verify a former employee’s dates and title of employment. Some will also share whether that person is eligible for rehire. But what they will share is all dependent upon company policy and is not necessarily consistent company to company. 

However, a good background check professional will check and develop references to “fill in the gaps”. That means they will question not only the references listed by an applicant, but also ask those references for another source they could contact who has knowledge about the applicant’s work history and job performance. 

The best thing any job applicant can do is to know beforehand what a former employer will say about them and choose their references wisely. 

And both of these can be accomplished by doing a background check on themselves long before they ever apply for a job”.

So, what can you do to give yourself a heads up on what past employers will share?

Do a little research! Find out the laws in your state and locality governing employer background check guidelines, along with any state and locality where you may have worked!

But despite “best practices” and legal regulations, can you really be 100% sure that you know what a former employer will say about you? That is why your best course of action is to take the time to do a Background Check on yourself first!

Check out the entire article here to learn more about the steps you can take to not only know in advance what a former employer will reveal about you but to also choose the best references in the first place!

In “Can You Edit Your Background Check”, we delved into the question of whether there is any way to change what is found on your employment background check report.

Is it possible to “edit” or change your background check report?

“If you mean can you question or dispute any of the findings contained in a background check, then the answer is Yes. It doesn’t matter whether the investigating company is HireRight or another screening service, you have the right to dispute the findings contained in that check.

However, you cannot simply “edit” that report yourself. If you find that your background check report contains errors, you need to immediately inform the employer that the report has errors. In fact, it is your right to not only dispute the findings but have the chance prove the findings are false or provide information to mitigate them.

So, while you cannot simply “edit” a background check, you have every right to refute the findings and have the chance to prove they are in error”

Find out what you can do before you even apply for a job to make sure your background check will help you get hired, not hurt you by checking out the entire article!

Our next popular post centered on how your social media posts can impact your Job Search.

“Do you post on Social Media? Could what you post be considered “controversial”? Then you need to read this…

What you post online can effect you, your job, and even your family.

That is why you need to understand the potential ramifications of what you post online and learn what you can do to mitigate your exposure.

First you should recognize that nothing you share on Social Media is ever really private!

It is also important that you realize that what you post can impact your Job Search, future promotions, and even your educational goals.

Learn more about how your Social Media posts can impact your Job Search here!

Our final top article of the past year focused on Hiring in a Small Business and the importance of using employment background checks to protect you, your company, and your bottom line!

“It is not easy to find the right employee, especially for a Small Business!

Hiring someone with the right skills, experience, and “fit” is, of course, essential. They need to not only be able to do the job, but to do it well.

But finding that talented candidate is not enough. They also need to be a safe and reliable hire. One that will not jeopardize the safety of your company’s existing employees, your customers, or your assets. 

And the key to accomplishing this goal is by doing a sound Employment Background Check!

When you screen your potential new hires, you are not only making a cost-effective and sound business decision, you are protecting your business reputation. And here are 4 reasons why......

1. Small Businesses have limited budget for hiring and training
2. The more “intimate setting” of a Small Business requires safer hires
3. Background Checks help Small Businesses avoid litigation
4. Small Businesses rely heavily on their reputation

Discover more about how Employment Background checks will help your business hire safely and effectively and how to get the quality checks you need here!”

That rounds out our Top Blog Articles list for this year. We would like to take a moment and thank our readers. We appreciate you taking the time to check out what we have to say and welcome your comments and ideas. 

To that end, please share what topics you would like to see covered in this new year. Would would love to hear from you! And if you haven’t already, be sure to Follow our Blog so you don’t miss an article!

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