Hi Sue,

I have a quick question for you. Last spring I had a nice job opportunity, and after 8 phone/in-person interviews, it seemed fairly certain this would turn into an offer. That said, before the offer was made they asked to do a background check. I sent the release and before 24 hours had passed I got a note that they went with someone else. My background is squeaky clean, but my birth date was the only thing that might have been notable.

In retrospect, I regret not having an offer in-hand before signing the release. Just for future reference, how do you think I should have handled it?  Do you have any other recommendations?

Thanks!

Squeamish

Dear Squeamish:

I've been hearing about these extended 7 or 8-interviews-over-months processes.  It's grueling (everyone’s opinion), completely unhelpful (my opinion), stressful for everybody - even them (fact). Typically, a hiring process that extends this long with so many interview steps ends with an internal person getting the job at the last minute.

It takes at least three business days to do a background check, so I don't think their decline to go forward was due to anything they found.  It’s too quick. Also, they had already met you, so your age was not a surprise. That's what makes me think this went to an internal candidate.

In the future, an option, as you suggest, is to offer to sign a release of information upon receiving an offer. The terms of the offer would then be “the offer is contingent upon successful completion of a background check.” This is standard language in offers these days.

You will know what they are looking into by the questions they ask.

·        Birth date and social security number is for employment history and legal (including traffic) infractions. It’s always nice to know that the people you’ll be working with in this company are reliable, have the experience they claim to have and are not convicted of hatchet murdering.

·        A separate permission form needs to be signed for an employer to check your credit or tax return info. This may be asked for if they are considering issuing you a credit card, phone, or other valuable equipment, or if you handle money.  Some commission sales people also need to give this permission to verify that they have sales at the level they claim.

[If a reader is concerned about divulging not-so-favorable information – divorce, bankruptcy, etc. – tell the employer what they will find and a bit about your story so that they see it for what it is: an unfortunate circumstance that is now over and complete. Be sure to tell the truth. Lying during the selection process is grounds for termination.]

You can help build relationship here by saying something like this: “I would really like to work here. Yet you can imagine that I'm careful with my identity information - Just as I will be careful with your confidential information. I would be very happy to sign a release when you can extend an offer. We could make the offer ‘contingent upon successful completion of a background check.’ How would that work for you?” ß Be sure to ask this. They may have some reason to conduct a check before extending an offer and sharing that information with you builds trust in why they are doing things the way they are. 

You can always ask why something is different from what you are expecting.  None of us knows everything and you can show you are open to learning.  (Tone of voice matters in this, too.)

Good luck with finalizing your job transition!

Hope this helps,

Sue Nelson