Are background checks a formality?

In other words, once you've made it to the reference check stage, are you virtually guaranteed to get the job?

No.

As a recruiter, I've seen jobs lost at the reference check stage when the references don't speak as highly of the job searcher as the hiring manager would have liked.

The reference check stage tends to be one that job searchers often don't take very seriously and I'm always amazed when this happens.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make at the reference check stage is thinking that it simply involves giving the potential hiring manager a list of names of people that they've worked with in the past and assuming that everything will work out.

Once, I got a call from a call out of the blue from a guy who asked me if he could do a reference check on a woman I'd worked with over one year earlier. The call took me by surprise because I hadn't spoken with this lady since we'd worked together (ie. over one year earlier) and I had no idea she was looking for a job or that she was using me as a reference!

It took me about a minute into the call before I actually realized what was going on. Since I was working as a recruiter, I was used to doing reference checks on people, not being used as a reference check so this call really surprised me since I hadn't been warned.

What she should have done was:

1. Ask me ahead of time if it was ok to use me as a reference. I would have had no problem being used as a reference but she should have asked.

2. Let me know right before a company might be calling me to do a reference check on her.

3. Let me know what sort of job she was interviewing for so during the reference check, I could highlight skills that she has that would be relevant to the job.

Actually, that would be point number 4 that she should have done: She should have let me know if she got the job after I completed the reference check. It would have been nice to know the result.

It would have made it easier and more productive if she had done a few simple things to make her reference (ie. me) more aware of what was going on and how I could help her.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it’s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it’s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it’s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I’m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!