Just Sign the Darn Release

As you may know, when hiring new employees or as a job seeker looking for new employment, a background check may need to be done and at a minimum a check of references from previous employers or employment situations is usually done.

There are a hundred reasons why this is a complicated concept, but the plain facts (just the facts Ma'am) are that prospective employers have a keen interest in learning that you are who you say you are and that you've done all the things you say you've done. Some 40% of resumes are said to have "distortion". It costs employers roughly three times the salary of the "mis-hire" to replace him/her if there is a bad fit.

As a candidate for employment, you are asked to sign a release that says that a prospective employer can speak with "others" about your previous work experience. I know when I've been a job seeker and looked at the forms I was requested to sign, I've often thought to myself - "well they have me over a barrel. If I don't sign this then it seems like I have something to hide and if I do sign this and someone says something misleading about me then I don't really have any recourse."

The bottom line is that I always have recourse to go back to someone who was deliberately misleading, malicious and slanderous telling "untruths" about me. However, if what they say was true then there isn't really much I can do about it.

My point is this, when a prospective employer asks a job seeker to sign a release so they can check you out....just do it. It is the right thing to do to get the job - if you really want the job. If you are parnoid enough to think that people will say bad things about you - well that creates a presumption you could be a hiring risk and the employer should be cautious.

I've got a current candidate who is refusing to sign a release to complete a background check and professional references. His attorney has advised him that no one who has his best interests in mind would be asking him to sign a release. I can't help this candidate if he gets legal advice that isn't in his best "future employment" interest. If the candidate doesn't sign the release at some point soon in the process we will just have to walk away from him. We have to be able to get to the info that we need as part of the hiring process. His refusal only makes us (me as the recruiter and my client the hiring authority) raise our eyebrows and sigh. He is writing himself off as a candidate because of the liability in making a "wrong" hire.

If you want the job bad enough, you'll just do it. That is certainly the case with signing releases to check references a background check. Just do it.