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While many of you may not know this, background checks are routinely run on prospective new employees at most companies and organizatons before job offers are extended. Like it or not background checks are increasingly being run on scientists because of the US anthrax incident that occurred soon after September 11, 2001. I want to emphasize that background checks on being run on ALL employees (not only scientists) before being hired.

Guest blogger, Anne Stephanie Cruz of Crimcheck.com contacted me and offered to enlighten us about how background checks are conducted and the type of information that employers are seeking. Crimcheck.com provides background checks for businesses large and small nationwide. Crimcheck.com background checks include criminal history, education verification, employment verification, driving records and more.

The Expansion of Background Checks for Scientists

A series of events and the development of technology have changed the climate for employers wishing to do a background check on job candidates. With the heightened security requirements resulting from the threat of terrorism, background checks have become essential for many jobs in science. Many companies developed tight security including background checks years ago. For example, anyone entering a large chemical plant understands from the gates and security checks at each entrance that access to the facility has been tightly guarded for years. However, with the escalation of terrorism coupled with the ease of gathering information on a job candidate, even the smallest organizations are taking the opportunity to thoroughly check out their scientists before hiring them.

There has been much debate over this issue as long established procedures give way to tighter security measures. For example, after the contamination of letters with anthrax, some laboratories began to implement new security requirements for employees, including background checks of personal information as well as fingerprinting.

There are firm guidelines in the general population regarding the information that can be collected legally for an employment background check. Also, some information can be collected but not used to make a decision regarding employing a candidate, such as public bankruptcy information. However, federal rules have opened scientists up to closer scrutiny and allowed background checks to include more information.

Generally, the following information may be acquired during a background check:

The following are examples of information that cannot be included in a general employment background check:

1. Records of Arrest
2. Civil Court Records (after 7 years)

The use of information like bankruptcy, marital status, number of children, race, age, sex, religion, birth place, sexual orientation, living arrangements, or health is illegal in the hiring process for most professions. However, new rules have allowed scientists to be checked beyond these restrictions. For example, one rule had restricted citizens of countries suspected of supporting terrorism from working with certain dangerous biological agents.

Scientists were also restricted from some jobs based on a history of mental illness, felony convictions, or drug use. The sudden implementation of background checks and heightened security was particularly disturbing for many seasoned scientists who had been trusted employees for years. Privacy rights have been thrown aside in many cases, leading to a disturbance in the scientific community. Many lawsuits have sprung up as scientists scramble to protect their rights in this environment. Examples of organizations with widely known lawsuits over background checks include JPL and NASA.

The legal framework regarding background checks for scientists is constantly shifting. Scientists need to know that they are likely to be checked out thoroughly, not only when applying for a job, but throughout their career. Employers doing background checks should seriously consider hiring a reputable company to perform these checks in order to stay within the boundaries of privacy laws.

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting

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The key to successful negotiations of any kind is realizing that you ARE NOT going to get everything that you want or expect. Likewise, this means that the person(s) sitting on the other side of the proverbial table is not going to get everything that he/she wants either. Simply put, you have to “give-to-get” during negotiations to reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable to all parties.  Please note that I used the word “acceptable” rather than “satisfied” when referring to a negotiated agreement. In my experience, neither party is ever COMPLETELY satisfied with a negotiated agreement. Rather, the respective parties each received enough of what they initially wanted/expected to consider the deal ‘acceptable.”

When working as a professional recruiter, I determined, early on, that job offers are generally extended to “right-fit” candidates within several days after an interview. That said, if you haven’t heard back from a company within a week or so after your interview, it is likely that you are not their first choice for the position.  Nevertheless, when you receive a job offer, the most important thing to remember is that  ALL offers are negotiable. Based on my own personal and professional experiences, a company’s first offer is usually neither their best nor final offer.

Frequently, inexperienced job candidates are reluctant to negotiate an initial offer because they are afraid that the company might retract it if they appear “too greedy.” This is simply not the case. Because companies/organizations typically offer jobs to only those individuals who they want to work for them ,their primary objective is to do whatever is “reasonable” to induce the candidate to join their organization. Of course, companies sometimes have limited resources or flexibility regarding  what they can offer a candidate to accomplish this! That said, job candidates are obliged to test the limits of corporate flexibility to negotiate the best compensation package they can before they are required to make a decision of whether or not to join a company/organization. Simply put, most nonprofit organizations and corporate entities expect some back and forth negotiations before a candidate makes his/her decision to accept or reject a job offer.

In my experiences, there are certain things that can and can’t be negotiated after an offer has been extended. Things that  can be negotiated include:

• Starting salary
• Stock options
• Relocation costs
• Signing bonuses
• Start dates

In contrast, items that are rarely or cannot be negotiated are:

• Health benefits
• Rank/title
• Vacation time
• Performance bonuses

Although most employers expect candidates to negotiate job offers, the way in which the negotiations are handled and conducted are extremely important. Candidates must remember to be cordial and professional at all times and to never give a prospective employer an ultimatum–e.g., “If I don’t get this salary, I will not take the job”. Ultimatums are the “kiss of death” for any prospective employee because it signals that the individual is demanding, inflexible and likely to not be a team player. 

Another thing to remember is to not become emotionally invested in the negotiations taking place between the company and you. When a candidate becomes overly emotional or demanding during negotiations, exchanges between a company and candidate may become acrimonious and unpleasant. To increase the likelihood of success i.e. to get what you want, it is best to be as dispassionate and business-like when negotiating a job offer.  Nobody likes to negotiate with an overly emotional or unreasonable individual (take it from me–I know!).

When it comes to negotiating a job offer, the best case scenario is to allow a recruiter to negotiate the offer on your behalf.  Because a recruiter usually has a preexisting  relationship with the hiring manager, he/she can do all of the so called “heavy lifting” to help a candidate get what they can from a company. To that end, the recruiter generally knows before entering into negotiations with a prospective employer exactly what his/her candidate’s “needs” are and how far he/she can push the client to help a candidate secure the best offer. Needless to say, this option is only available to those candidates who used a recruiter to interview at the company/organization in the first place.

Negotiations become unnecessarily “nasty” or belligerent may come back to haunt you if you accept an offer and work at a particular company. To that end, you may find yourself working for or with the person(s) who you negotiated with!  And, if bad feelings were generated during the negotiation process, it may take some work to overcome the negative impression you created for yourself. For those of you who may not know, organizational/corporate memory has a long shelf life!

In my next post, I will discuss some strategic approaches and tactics that candidates can use to optimize a job offer from a prospective employer.

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!

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