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

The short 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?

The long answer is, I'm a licensed (by the state) to practice engineering, just like dentists are licensed (by the state) to practice dentistry. If you don't trust your dentist, 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 a victim, not the perpetrator. I'm a registered and licensed professional engineer. My association of professional engineers would start disciplinary action against me, and cancel my license, if I was a criminal. Based on these four reasons, I believe, any request for any 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 should not be representing me!

Many background checks are ILLEGAL. My HR contact tells me, it is 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."

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)

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 your "OK" to a gumshoe, to do a "background check" on you, is unwise. Why am I saying this? Because gumshoes often deal in gossip, and hearsay, and false evidence that can and will damage your reputation, AND stay with you for up to 7 years, unless you 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.

End clients tend to be GOOD people. However, in some locations, there are end clients that are 'unusual' and 'unreasonable'. They're unusual and unreasonable because they believe they can make you work in an environment that is contrary to your best interests. Pay attention to little red flags, e.g. mandatory background checks, mandatory badging in at 8:00 a.m. or earlier, "proprietary" hardware tools, "proprietary" software tools, or "proprietary" software languages. If you want to maintain your marketable skills, avoid 'unusual' and 'unreasonable' end clients!

Clients sometimes use on-site agencies with monopolistic powers. In my experience, these monopolists are not as good as the end clients they represent.

Don't be like the on-site recruiting agency that wanted to do a "criminal background check" on me. They automatically assumed I was "guilty" until proven innocent. Why the suspiciousness? Probably because they were negative people who looked inside themselves and saw a couple of con men. Do you want to deal with negative people, con men, or anyone else who do not trust you? Of course you don't!

Don't act like con men. Con men tend to be sneaky; they take advantage of job seekers' desire to please potential employers! They use trickery, deception, lies and false promises to get all sort of personal information: your full name, birth date, signature and other identifiers -- all the things they need to steal your identity. Do you want to deal with identity thiefs? Of course you don't!

1. Don't be like the recruiter who commited fraud when he wrongfully and dishonestly failed to disclose to me a requirement for a background investigation. This particular requirement was an unusual one, and he should have disclosed it to me at the time we submitted the resume.
   
   
2. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who made a statement he knew was false. He said, "Other than W-2 and I-9 forms, there will be nothing else that you will have to sign." He made this statement he knew was false, in order to deceive me and to entice me to release to him my social security number, date of birth, and other proprietary information. Contrary to what he said, one day later he sent me a big bundle of blank forms, for my signature, for HIS and for HIS benefit only.
   
   
3. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who made a statement he knew was false. He said, "I'm sending you a contract", but he failed to deliver it to me. He was eager to collect MY signature, but HE signed nothing. He completely avoided the signing of all forms. Without his signature there was no tangible contract, there was no tangible offer. The offer he made was only a verbal offer.
   
   
4. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who made a statement he knew was false. He said, "The client wants a criminal background check." A couple of days later he pressured me to sign a form that would have authorized not a "criminal background check" but a "wide-scope background investigation". Please notice, there is a big-big difference between a simple, 5-minute criminal background check, and a complex, wide-scope investigation of unlimited scope and duration that can stretch anywhere from 5 days to 15 years. The latter can and will include all gossip, hearsay evidence, and false evidence.
   
   
5. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who tricked me to sign away my rights when he said, "Sign this form and send it back to me!" It was a boilerplate legal form from a gumshoe that would have subjected me to a wide-scope investigation of unlimited scope and duration, where the gumshoe would have included gossip, hearsay and false evidence, and, all these would have remained on my record for 7 years.
   
   
6. Don't be like the on-site recruiter who misled me when she said, "We need to do a credit check on you." The truth was, there was no reason to check my credit because I was NOT hired as a bank teller, credit manager, accountant, or multi-million dollar project manager. If there was any need for checking anyone's credit, then it was the credit of the end client and the recruiting agency, because they would handle my money. They would owe me up to $100,000, in paychecks.
   
   
7. Don't be like the on-site recruiter (same recruiter) who mislead me when she said, "We need to check your driving record." The truth was, there was no reason to check my driving record because I was NOT hired as a truck driver, forklift driver, or school bus driver.
   
   
8. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who mislead me when he said, "This paperwork comes from the client." The truth was, all paperwork came from him and his firm's verification company only.
   
   
9. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who misled me when he said, "This requirement for a wide-scope investigation came from the client." The truth was, the request came from him and his verification company only.
   
   
10. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who treated me Unfairly. An initial piece of paper from his firm said, "Our firm agrees to deal fairly and in good faith with the contractor", but then he wanted me to sign one additional document that would have required a 2-week notice from me, but ZERO notice from his firm. Was that fair or unfair? Of course, it was unfair!
    
    
11. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who wanted me to spend my own money to travel to a physically distant site of an out of state client, when, as we can see from items 1 through 9, he had no integrity; his word was not gold. He worked and acted like a con man. Would you invest any money with a con man?
    
    
12. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who asked me to lend to his firm my own money (to do the required drug screen). However, as we can see from items 1 through 9, he had no integrity; his word was not gold. We can see he worked and acted like a con man. Would you lend money to a con man?
    
    
13. Don't be like the recruiter (same recruiter) who applied tremendous pressure on me. Why the pressure? Probably because if one is under pressure, one has no time to read or digest anything. This way he was able to make me sign and fax to him forms I would have not have signed under normal circumstances. How did he do it? For one, he called me every day, and every hour, sometimes every five minutes.
    
    
14. Two, he left for me a large number of voice and e-mail messages. Three, he made a big effort to get from me promises, fax messages, and all sorts of personal information. Four, just like a con man, he kept giving me artificial deadlines. He wanted me to make a decision the same day, and print, and sign, find a fax machine, and do all of this before the close of the business day. WHY WAS THE RUSH? I was already stressed and did not need to make a decision right then and there. I could afford to take a day or two to make a decision. Legitimate recruiters would have known this and would have been willing to wait for my decision.
    
    
15. How do you deal with untrustworthy and dishonest recruiters? In these real life examples, in items 1 through 14, the desire to earn extra money made a recruiter commit fraud. With all frauds, the problem is that eventually they're found out, and both clients and contractors tend to bail, once the fraud is discovered.

For Rob's resume, click here or here.

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