Are you OK with a background check? Software QA/Test Engineer, Resume

ROB DAVIS, P.E.


Q39: Are you OK with a background check?
The short answer is...
  • Five-minute criminal background checks are OK.

  • Full background checks are OK, if done by the government, for clearance. However...

  • Full background checks are NOT OK, if done by private detectives. If a private detective was hired to investigate me, it'd be an underhanded, unethical invasion of my privacy, and, if I ever learned about it, I wouldn't take the contract, even if it was offered to me!
The long answer is, is the paper work, and the risks of identity theft, gossip, hearsay evidence, false evidence, and the time and money consumed in dealing with gumshoes and gossipmongers worth the prize, when the vast majority of jobs require no background investigation?

I'm licensed to practice engineering, just like doctors are licensed to practice medicine. If you don't trust your doctor, do you put him through the humiliation of a background investigation? Of course you don't!

Life is too short to engage in anything illegal. I'm not a criminal, have never been a criminal, and never going to be a criminal. If I'm touched by crime, I'm the victim, not the perpetrator. I'm a registered and licensed professional engineer. My association of professional engineers would start a disciplinary action against me and cancel my license, if I was a criminal. Based on these four reasons, I believe, any request for a so called "background check" is a bit of an insult.

If you don't trust me, why should I trust you? If you don't trust me, then there is something wrong with you, and you shouldn't be representing me!

Many background checks are illegal. One of my HR contacts tells me, it's illegal for an employer to ask you to fill out "background check" forms (with social security number, date of birth, etc.) before you have had a client interview. To prescreen, using background check information, is illegal because it could allow a recruiting agency to use protected information to deny some contractors the opportunity of employment (based on income, criminal history, marital status, etc.)

Identity theft is on the rise. Taking advantage of job seekers' desire to please potential employers, identity thieves ask for all sorts of personal information: your name, birth date, credit information -- all the things they need to steal your identity and spend your money. The FBI says, if you encounter a request for your personal, financial, or identity information, such as Social Security number, or other identifiers, exercise extreme caution, AND report any suspicious activity. Monster.com says, "Protect your personal information by never providing social security account numbers to prospective employers."

Giving my OK to a gumshoe would be unwise. The following true story demonstrates why submitting yourself to a background check is UNWISE: "It was just the job lead Jim needed: a marketing manager position with Arthur Gallagher, a leading international insurance broker. And only days after Jim responded to the job posting on Monster.com, a human resources director sent along a promising e-mail. We’re interested in you, the note said. The salary is negotiable, the clients are big. In fact, the clients are so valuable and sensitive that you’ll have to submit to a background check as part of the interview process. Eager for work, Jim complied — and sent off just about every key to his digital identity, including his age, height, weight, Social Security number, bank account numbers, even his mother’s maiden name. It was all just an elaborate identity theft scam designed to prey on the most vulnerable potential victims — the increasing ranks of the unemployed." ('Online Job Listing and ID Theft Scam' by Bob Sullivan, MSNBC, November 4, 2002)

Giving my OK to the government. Of governments, gumshoes, and gossipmongers, I prefer the government. Therefore, if there is a requirement for a wide-scope investigation, then I prefer the government whose investigation leads to "security clearance". Why am I saying this? Because a full background check by a gumshoe covers every aspect of an individual's life, much like the government's investigation covers every aspect of one's life for a government security clearance. The big difference is, however, a gumshoe cannot give me clearance. Additionally, a gumshoe cannot assure me my personal data won't end up in India, or, alternatively, in the hands of criminals!

Giving my OK to a gumshoe would be unwise. Why am I saying this? Because gumshoes often deal in gossip, hearsay and false evidence that can and will damage my reputation, AND stay with me for up to 7 years, unless I want to sue and spend 4 years and $8,000. Take the case of James Millstone, the assistant managing editor of the St. Louis Post. A gumshoe gathered some damaging information on Millstone because of an interview with one of his neighbors. The report stated he was a hippie with a beard and long hair, could be a drug user, and failed to discipline his kids. Because of this report, his credit was almost ruined, and his car insurance was almost cancelled. When he learned about the false credit report, he sued, and eventually won, but only after spending 4 years and $8,000. In his case, the false report was based on one single neighbor who didn't like Millstone, and had been feuding with his kids.

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