Gainesville, VA (PRWEB) July 19, 2006 -- According to Spherion Corporation´s latest Workforce Study, 79 percent of respondents say they now run background checks on prospective employees, and over half say they've increased their use of the pre-employment screening tool in the last five years.
"Preparing for a background check is as important today as updating your resume. The best candidate in the world won´t get hired if he doesn´t pass the background check," says Jan Maxwell, author of "A Job Hunter´s Secret Weapon: How to Survive a Background Check and Get the Job You Really Want!" (http://www.jobhunterssecretweapon.com)
Almost five million background checks were run in 2005, and about half of them found discrepancies in the information provided on job applications.
"Many candidates don´t realize that companies use their job applications, rather than their resumes, to run a background check," says Maxwell. "A job application asks for a lot of detailed information that´s not on a resume, and a candidate needs to make sure that everything can be verified. If a hiring company finds discrepancies, lies, or unexplained employment gaps on a candidate´s job application, he won´t get hired."
Maxwell offers five tips for filling out a job application that will sail through pre-employment screening:
- Tell the truth -- Nothing will take you out of consideration faster than lying.
- Be neat -- Your mother may be able to read your handwriting, but she´s not the one checking your background. If you can type your application, do it. If not, print clearly.
- Be complete -- Provide as much employment and education history as you can fit on the application. Spell out company and school names. Supply a complete address and phone number for every employer that you list, and make sure the information is up-to-date.
- Account for your time -- Hiring companies don´t like to see unexplained gaps in employment. If the time between jobs is three months or more, let them know what you were doing.
- Prep your references -- Make sure they´re willing to speak on your behalf, find out when and where they want to be contacted, and let them know what skills and attributes you´d like them to talk about.
"It´s a good idea to contact your former employers to make sure your records are available," says Maxwell. "It´s surprising how many employment records are not where they´re supposed to be. If you find that your records are missing, or if a former employer has gone out of business, you need to prepare an alternate way to verify that information."
"A Job Hunter´s Secret Weapon: How to Survive a Background Check and Get the Job You Really Want!" is the first book that shows job applicants how to prepare themselves for a background check. Using real-life examples, the author explains how to fill out each section of a job application so every piece of information can be verified.
The book is available as a downloadable PDF or on CD. It can be purchased at http://www.jobhunterssecretweapon.com, where applicants can also read the book´s Table of Contents and a sample chapter. The ebook normally retails for $12.95, but summer job applicants can purchase it for $9.95 through August 31st.
Jan Maxwell is a freelance writer whose work has appeared online and in print publications such as Northern Virginia Magazine and Experience. She spent eighteen years as a pre-employment screener and saw many qualified applicants fail to get hired because the information on their applications had holes and discrepancies or was impossible to verify.
Book Name: A Job Hunter´s Secret Weapon: How to Survive a Background Check and Get the Job You Really Want!
Press Contact: Jan Maxwell
Company Name: PURPLE INK PRESS
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 703-753-5370
Website: http://www.jobhunterssecretweapon.com
More Information: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/7/prweb413441.htm