Re: Searching for a Job when you have one

[Jim McAward <jimmc -at- CHYRON -dot- COM>]

In a previous career, I worked as a private investigator.  Not much cloak
and dagger stuff, but lots and lots of pre-employment verifications.  If,
for example, Acme General Specifics, Inc. was hiring a senior structural
engineer, I would get a copy of their job application, and check all the
references.

I would speak to former employers to determine if there were any hidden jobs
(i.e. you said you worked for Brand X until September, 1996.)  I'd call
Brand X's Personnel department, and maybe I'd learn that you left in April,
not September.  I'd then know you were hiding something.  I'd talk to former
supervisors at all your prior employers - even track them to other firms.
I'd talk to the your personal references at length - and try to get them to
reveal the name of a person who you didn't put down, so I could talk to
someone you hadn't talked to first.

I would check your current employer, under some guise or another (extremely
discretely - we take this VERY seriously!) to determine if in fact you
worked there, and if you were employed in the capacity you said you were.

Finally, I'd check your education, and confirm that you have the education
you say you did.  In some cases, I'd check for a criminal record.

The raw statistic is that one in five applicants provide falsified
information of some kind or another.  I'd get "clean kills" (drastic
falsification) every single day.

In case you think this is illegal, just read the fine print above the place
you signed on the application.  Also:  Due to schedule pressure, many
employers would forward the application for investigation *after* they made
the hiring decision.  A clean kill in that case means that you're out of
work, instantly.  And a clean kill could save a company from a potential
disaster, especially in critical engineering and finance jobs.

A few notable cases I did:  one was a guy who applied to an extremely
sensitive nuclear-energy concern as a structural engineer - it turned out
that he had repeatedly failed structural engineering in college and had
fabricated his degree.  Another was a technician who set himself up as a
systems analyst with an elaborate (fabricated) history.  His story began to
unravel when I learned his alma mater had no record of his attending.   He
had performed this scam before, and was working at his second or third job,
for a large aerospace contractor, when he applied to work for my client.
(He withdrew his application; had he been already hired he would have been
summarily discharged.)

I won't go further into the details - anyone interested in knowing more
about what you can't do and what you can get away with can contact me
directly.  By law, companies can't reveal more than basic information: dates
of employment, position held, etc.  The trick was to assemble a pattern out
of such basic information.

As with all other areas of life, honesty is the best policy.

Have a great day...

Jim.
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James G. McAward                        Chyron Corporation
Manager,                                Melville, NY  11747
Technical Publications                  http://www.chyron.com
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                "So many facts, so little time!"
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