Honesty in Your Job Search

I have personally seen offers retracted or new employees were fired for instances where someone took leeway with the truth somewhere in the hiring process. Be sure your are accurately reflecting your past and present:

In Your Resume – while it seems a long way off, the resume you submit to a potential employer is the one that is going to be background checked after you have accepted an offer and potentially resigned from your current position

  • are the dates of employment right? You do not want an offer retracted because a background check finds you extended an employment term to fill in a gap.
  • did you really graduate from those schools?

On your LinkedIn Profile – while recruiters use this to find you, this is also the first place potential employers look to do a quick and dirty background check. You may miss out on an interview without resume/LinkedIn parity.

  • do your past employers and employment dates match those on your resume?
  • same deal with the schools you attended/graduated from

Dealing with Recruiters – a little tougher because to be honest you also have to be smart. Keep a list of the companies where you have applied or been submitted by other recruiters and when.

  • tell recruiters if you have already applied or been submitted -You look foolish and/or desperate if you are resubmitted to the same employer. The “highly detail oriented” portion of your resume may be questioned.
  • keep recruiters who have submitted you in the loop on the progress of your job search. An impending offer at one employer may spur another to accelerate their hiring process. Always good to have more than one offer to consider
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