The hiring process will involve so many different components as you are evaluating candidates. While you are comparing education, skills, and credentials, don’t forget just how important past employment history can be. Let’s look at a few ways employment history is vital to filling new positions in your company.
Employment History Vs. Education
In some cases, employment history may even be more important than a candidate’s education. The issue with basing hiring choices on education alone is that there is no way for you to verify what type of student someone was during their college years. Just because someone earned their degree, does not necessarily mean they are honest people or hard workers. There are so many ways today that students can cheat their way into a degree. There is really no way for employers to verify how devoted or honest a person was during their college days. Although you may be able to verify education, you can’t use education to verify what type of person you are dealing with.
It may be tempting when you see a top-named college on a resume to assume that the candidate embodies all of the same values that the school embodies, but this is not always the case. In fact, it is rarely the case.
Employment history is a much better way to verify what type of person you are dealing with. Employment history will show you who this person has been working for in real life since college.
What To Look For In Employment History
When you are evaluating someone’s employment history you will want to dig a little bit deeper than simply verifying that the person worked at a certain location. Digging deeper will take more of a time investment, but in the long run, it will be better for your hiring process if you take this time to really find out what sort of employee the person was.
In order to dig deeper, you will need to follow up and possibly speak with past employers. This is the very best way to truly verify if someone worked at a certain location and further to find out what type of employee they were while they were there. Although you may be tempted to skip this step. Take the extra time to find out what type of employee they have been.
Taking this step can also help you identify individuals who maybe do not have the degree to go along with their name. Sometimes a solid work history can be far more valuable than a degree. Talking with employers who worked on a daily basis with the candidate can help you evaluate if they have the real-life skills to fulfill the role.
When you are looking into employment history it is best to have a pre-determined list of skills and real-world experience you are looking for. Although this may initially take more time, in the long run, you will end up with quality people who can add to your company rather than be a drain on your resources.
Verifying Employment History
Using employment verification software or services is one way you can verify employment history. However, you should keep in mind that this is only a starting place. Software or services will help you weed out individuals who may be lying on their resumes and job applications. Beyond that, however, you will also want to contact past employers themselves in order to truly find out what type of employee a candidate was.
Employment history is a crucial part of the hiring process. Be sure you do not cut any corners in an effort to speed up this process.
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