Employment background check

Nurses Job Hunt

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Hi

I am confused, maybe some of you exp RN and/or recruiters can shed some ligjt:

Some OP have posted that you can ommit unfavorable job exp from your application , while others have mentioned that all olds will show up on your background check. I thought this was only true with your RN jobs, that they all show up in background check, but non Nursing Jobs will not show in background check?

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Yes. A background check can reveal many things -- depending on what type of check they do. Lying on an application is always VERY risky. It's usually better to tell the truth and not hide things and deal with them up front rather than hope they won't be discovered.

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I don't want to venture into the legal aspects, but I can tell you that those old jobs, especially if they are fairly recent, can come back to haunt you if you don't disclose them on the application. Most employment apps have a statement down in the fine print at the bottom that says something to the effect that if you falsify any information on that form it can be used as grounds for denying you the job or terminating your employment at a later date. It's (almost) always best to be open and honest about your past experience, and not run the risk of being fired over a "little detail" that you left off your application.

Employers really just want to know the circumstances of why you left a particular job. Did you get fired because you were just not very good at selling life insurance, or did you get fired for punching out a customer? Standard background checks may or may not catch those old jobs, but selectively leaving out significant chunks of your working life can come back to bite you right in that part of your anatomy that you sit on.

Your resume is a different story. It's really just your "sales brochure" for getting invited in for an interview. If you have pre-nursing work experience, especially if it goes back a number of years, there is no need to go into great detail. You can simply summarize it on your resume with a statement that could look something like: "Prior, non-nursing experience (1998 to 2004) includes dolphin training and skydiving instruction".

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I have some insight into this issue - my position has required very close collaboration with HR for many years, so I am aware of what goes on 'behind the curtain'.

The background checks used by most hospitals include 'true identity' verification... which involves running a very thorough check on your SSN history. This will turn up details on any job that had FICA deductions. They then match this to your stated job history. My organization has turned up a surprising number of 'problems' in this area. The most frequent issue is inaccuracy of the job history - AKA leaving off some less-than-favorable jobs. They have also uncovered inaccurate SSNs.. sometimes due to 'honest' mistakes like number transposition. There have been a couple of instances of deliberate fraud - using someone else's SSN.

So - bottom line - honesty is the best policy. As a rule of thumb, you only need to put down job history details for the last 10 years.... summarizing previous work is fine.

No one is perfect. Very few of us have absolutely sparkling neat-and-tidy resumes.

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should you include things like work study jobs on your resume?

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I've never put down all of my jobs and never had a problem (though I've never had a background check for nursing). I've had short temporary positions (like working at Macy's for a few weeks during christmas) as well as waitressing jobs in college that I never include. Do you think I need to include jobs like that on my application? I've only included relevant job history and long term jobs.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Most job apps do only go back 10 years. The exception is a government job or a job where you need a security clearance. I have had jobs where I've had to go all the way back to high school (which was in 1977). lol...

I would never lie on a job app. For myself, I keep an up to date resume on my computer so that I can quickly add certs, research projects, job changes, etc.. That way, when I want to submit an app/resume/CV I just send it off.

Maybe that would work for you?

Best wishes

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Specializes in Neurology.

Hello,

If I only started orientation somewhere (2 weeks) and realized it wasn't a good fit (IE never on the floor), do you think it is necessary to put it in an application? Some apps only have space for 5 jobs so I assumed it better to just not include this position- but it is fairly recently... it just doesn't seem relevant. I essentially didn't work there.

Thanks!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
Hello,

If I only started orientation somewhere (2 weeks) and realized it wasn't a good fit (IE never on the floor), do you think it is necessary to put it in an application? Some apps only have space for 5 jobs so I assumed it better to just not include this position- but it is fairly recently... it just doesn't seem relevant. I essentially didn't work there.

Thanks!

If you omit it and they find out about it, you'd probably be toast. I wouldn't chance it. Think about it from the employer's perspective. If you have a history of changing your mind after accepting a job, that is relevant information for them. They want an explanation of that situation to be sure that you will not do that to them, leaving them "high and dry" at the last minute. So, if you hide the truth, you are hiding information important to them -- and if discovered, they will no longer trust you. Tell the truth.

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