dates and reference checks

[GIacona]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have been let go from my job for the 2nd time within 2 years due to the economy. In my line of work I use employment agencies to assit finding me work. I found out that one agency I am working with has changed the dates on my resume to help me look more stable. I did not queston it, but I do not like this.

If I am offered one of the positons I am activitly interviewing for should I just put the correct dates on the application? I know my references would back me up if I asked them to, but the chance they call HR as well is a concern for me.

I don't want to risk not getting the job, but I also do not want to risk getting fired for fall info. I know my backgorund check will comre back clean, i am just concerned about what they agency did to my resume.

Do most employers just call the people you put down as references or do they call the HR department for the company as well?

I really need advice here

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I have been let go from my job for the 2nd time within 2 years due to the economy. In my line of work I use employment agencies to assit finding me work. I found out that one agency I am working with has changed the dates on my resume to help me look more stable. I did not queston it, but I do not like this.

If I am offered one of the positons I am activitly interviewing for should I just put the correct dates on the application? I know my references would back me up if I asked them to, but the chance they call HR as well is a concern for me.

I don't want to risk not getting the job, but I also do not want to risk getting fired for fall info. I know my backgorund check will comre back clean, i am just concerned about what they agency did to my resume.

Do most employers just call the people you put down as references or do they call the HR department for the company as well?

I really need advice here

If I were you I'd leave that agency and use one that does not behave so unethically. In the end, your "more favorable" appearance can hurt you down the line.

 

[eerelations]

Most prospective employers check dates. If they find the dates on the resume don't match the dates former employers provide, they often fire the new hire.

This agency is not doing you any favours, nor is it acting in your best interests. In fact it's making you seem like someone who's committing fraud. I reco you tell them to stop sending the doctored resume out immediately and then change to a different agency - immediately.

Personally, if an agency did that to my resume, I'd report them to all the applicable governing/regulatory bodies and BBBs I could find.

 

[Beth3]

I found out that one agency I am working with has changed the dates on my resume to help me look more stable. I did not queston it, but I do not like this.

You shouldn't. This agency had absolutely no business changing the dates of employment on your resume, thereby falsifying it. When a prospective employer does reference checks and finds out the dates on your resume don't jive, they'll drop your candidacy like a hot potato.

What the agency has done is very unethical and not remotely in your best interests. Personally, I'd give them a piece of my mind and have them change the dates back immediately. I'm also tempted to tell you to not work with them any longer however given the current job market, you probably need all the job search resources of which you can avail yourself. Just be mindful that the agency (or at least the individual you're working with there) may not always be telling you the truth. If they'll falsify your resume to help land themselves a placement fee, they'll likely falsify other information as well.

 

[swalsh411]

Personally, if an agency did that to my resume, I'd report them to all the applicable governing/regulatory

You would just be wasting your time and taxpayer money. No government entity is going to care, and there is no law which says you cannot falsify the dates on your resume. (or anything on your resume for that matter)

 

[Beth3]

Personally, if an agency did that to my resume, I'd report them to all the applicable governing/regulatory bodies There aren't any. Contingency/placement/staffing companies are not a regulated industry.

 

[commentator]

Yeah! Let's talk about those huge employment agencies like TALX, which we used to refer to as "the evil empire." There are NO regulations on those kinds of things. Should be, but aren't.

 

[swalsh411]

Yeah! Let's talk about those huge employment agencies like TALX, which we used to refer to as "the evil empire." There are NO regulations on those kinds of things. Should be, but aren't.

Yea because the government isn't involved in our lives enough. Anything that can possibly be regulated should be regulated don't you agree?

 

[eerelations]

There are in Canada. Agencies must be licensed in Canada and in order to get licenses they must adhere to certain standards.

I wasn't telling the OP that he should report this agency, I was just saying that if this happened to me, I would be so angry that I would go so far as to report the agency (and I can because right now I happen to be in Canada).

I apologize for not being clear on this. However, I still think there could be some entity that might be interested in the OP's agency's shabby behaviour - maybe OP's local BBB or similar?

 

[commentator]

Gotta respond. Actually, in my 35+year experience with governmental agencies and business, I have come to believe that the ONLY thing that keeps our system from being more terrible than can be imagined, going into outright piracy and extortion, in fact, has been governmental regulation.

There is no argument that we'd "self regulate" if there were no governmental controls cause we're just good wonderful moral people. It just doesn't happen.

When principle meets profit, principle rarely prevails.

People are always complaining about government being too much in our lives, but then they're coming up with wonderful new ways we should put more government in our lives, like prohibiting Food Stamp recipients from buying sugar products. Just imagine the amount of government monitoring that would require on a day to day basis! Making sure people on unemployment insurance make "legitimate, sincere weekly job searches." And that they wash their hair before they go on the interview.

When we worked with private agencies contracting for federal money, we always said, "Thank God for the Feds!" because if they hadn't been there, those agencies would have been worse, more poorly operated, unmonitored, greedy and self serving at the expense of the clientele they were supposed to be helping.

Some of these private employment agencies are accumulating huge amounts of unregulated data (such as work histories) on people who work for them, even for a short time. They are then selling reference verification information to companies. They themselves literally hire people off the street and have huge turnover among their employees. One or two unscrupulous people working there have the potential to steal thousands of identities. People are gradually becoming enmeshed in the system to the point where there is no privacy. They actually have a "never hire this person again" category that could destroy lives. And they aren't especially accurate in their record keeping, either.

Sorry, end of rant!

 

[Hot Topic]

Do not, repeat, do not count on the BBB doing anything. The BBB has no legal "teeth." If you complain to them, they may try and act as mediator between you and the other party, but the other party is not obligated in any way, shape or form to listen. And neither or you. You can try and check a reference on a business before dealing with them, but if it's not a member, you're out of luck.