Background Check Without My Consent
 

I applied for a job posting last week. After submitting my resume, they called a former supervisor of mine to gather information about me. The funny thing is, I never submitted my list of references, nor did they ever contacted me about this position. The person who called knew my supervisor.

But still, is this commonplace?

you probably had a list of past jobs on the resume? they probably called those.

Well i know in the architecture industry, it's pretty small and everyone knows one another. If someone knows your supervisor I wouldn't be suprised they called and asked about you.

Seems totally standard to me... I think in this day and age, lots of employers will try to find information about the candidate online... through Google searches or Facebook...

isn't it illegal to contact your previous employer without your consent?

What kind of job was it?

no

LOL

If you leave your employment history on your resume, I think it's fair game for them to look up more information about you on that.

Well they called me for an interview today, so I guess the reason why they did a background check was because they were interested.

Suhhweeet...

if he didn't state his references then the interviewer is not allowed to call his previous employers, unless he has stated on the application form that the interviewer can call. i swear this is true. if i'm wrong then please enlighten me with your knowledge and not just blunt remarks pfffft.

Exactly, that's what I thought too.

If they can just contact my past employers inquiring about my job history then that would defeat the purpose of having references.

i would think it safe to assume that those who replied stating that contacting your previous employers was standard practice, did so under the assumption that you had written it down on your resume.

If I decide to leave employment history blank...what would the interviewer do? call every single business in the lower mainland to see IF i worked there?

We're suppose to prove to you something is not illegal? I don't think they make laws like that.

Absolutely one hundred percent wrong. Employers can and should research the employment history of prospective applicants. I fired an employee who had lied about his employment history and although our human resources staff had contacted a reference listed for the company, the reference was a setup who no longer worked at the organization, and misrepresented both his responsibilities as well as those of the applicant. Doing a bit more digging at the time of application would have avoided those circumstances...

so? did you get the job?

interviewers can contact employeers listed on your resume. I mean if they can't how are they to cross reference what you're telling them is true or not.... the mutual trust is built after they hire you

Yes I did.