Can a Employer find out if you are Employed???

I plan on applying for fortune 500 companies. I have been working permanently for 2 months now. Pay and hours suck, but benifits are great.

I wouldn't want to tell them I am unemployed due to lay off and later in the background check discover I am currently working.

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Comments

roch_greg

Legally (without your knowledge and/or consent) I don't think they can. Employment records aren't public information. At some point though, either during the interview process, or on the job application they certainly will ask "are you currently employed".

That said it's never a good idea to start off on the wrong foot. Being untruthful on a job application, even for something as trivial as this, is cause for dismissal. So why not be upfront and state you are employed but looking for better opportunities?

cisco_trooper

Don't tell them or lead them to believe you are unemployed. For one, you are lying and if they find out they'll get rid of you because they can no longer trust you. What else did you lie about?

Just tell them you are looking for better opportunities and more responsibility. Be prepared to elaborate with those statements and do NOT talk bad about your current employer, boss, or co-workers. You want to be a positive person. Best of luck.

cisco_trooper

Secondly, if they think you are unemployed they are more likely to lowball you since you will likely be perceived as being in a position of desparation, which also will be a reason for them not to trust you as much. You are desparate. You may just take the first job you can find and continue looking. Don't portray yourself as unemployed.

DoubleNNs

Just be honest with them. You took the job, but it hasn't been a good fit. You're looking for a better opportunity with more responsibility, more normal/stable hours, and wouldn't mind a pay bump.

Also, don't think that just because a company is in the Fortune 500 that it will be a better job. A well known company might look good on your resume. However, if you take the job solely for the name, regardless of how great it looks on your resume after you leave, you might be miserable during your time there.

goldenlight

thanks for the suggestions, I started looking for work in the middle of summer and just took something permanent with benifits. hopefully the beginning of the year will see more It related jobs. This current job is way too strict on Time.

Stressing me out

)

paul78

Good luck in your upcoming job search. But I do want to echo what DoubleNNs stated - just because an organization is in the Fortune 500 doesn't mean that the job demands may be different. What is it about your current job and "time" that you find stressful?

As for your original question - the general answer is "yes" - an employer that is conducting a comprehensive background check can find out about your past employers.

sheckler

paul78 wrote: »

As for your original question - the general answer is "yes" - an employer that is conducting a comprehensive background check can find out about your past employers.

How would they do that? From googling around it seems like they can't, background checking companies can only verify employment/school if you give them the info and they manually call.

Iristheangel

It's really up to you, OP. I wouldn't lie about having experience that you don't have but omitting positions from your resume is something different entirely. I don't put that 3 month long paid internship on my resume from a while back or the Arby's job I had for a week when I was 18.

The only ways I know that an employer can find out where you work WITHOUT you disclosing is the following:
1) There are records out there on the internet (news releases, your Linkedin, random public resume, etc) with the name of the company
2) You're working for the government and it's posted somewhere (see 1)
3) The next potential job does a credit check and you applied for credit listing your current employer and that's passed onto your credit report

I'm usually all for honesty but the reality is that everyone cuts out irrelevant content and experience from their resume. If you think you can get benefit from listing the job, then go ahead. If not, realize that it's going to look like a 2 month gap and you should tread carefully but the reality is that it's your decision. Storm troopers aren't going to bust into your interview and arrest you for not putting some blimp in your career on your resume.

paul78

sheckler wrote: »

How would they do that?

As I recall, a background check can include completion of a 4506T which allows an employer access to W2's. It depends on how comprehensive the employer's pre-employment screening process.

goldenlight

Thanks for the advice. I will list my current employer.

Hopefully they won't contact them until the background investigation is done.

In the meantime will keep my job alerts on, review material from my ccna by labbing and possibly start prepping for the mcsa (server 2012).