Do A Background Check On Yourself

In the difficult job market of today, it is a given that most employers will do various background checks on any potential employee. If they don't at least Google you, they really aren't doing their job. And while there are many things that you can do to deal with any negative items they may find, it is important to find out before they do, what those things are.

The first step is to google yourself. Finding out what a prospective employer will see about you is important, because there are many steps you can take to make the search results more favorable. One of the best ways to do this, is to set up a blog or website that deals with issues in your industry. Be sure to write informative posts, and look around for other industry related sites that you can comment on and participate in their community. Be sure that your posts are helpful and professional. If you select popular sites to get involved with, those comments will show up first in most search results. You can also change your email address and, as a more extreme measure, you can even change the way you format your name. “John Smith” can become “John C. Smith” with a different email address, which would make it more difficult for a simple web search to find anything associated with the old email address and name.

Dealing with negative information online is a bit easier than dealing with negative information in a background or credit check. By searching with a full name and social security number, the odds are higher that if you have something you would rather hide, it will be found. That is why it is very important to do a background check on yourself before any potential employer does. This way, you can be sure that you know what they are going to find out and can take steps to correct any errors on these reports. Most consumer reports allow individuals to receive a free copy once a year. If you haven't already requested your free copies, now is the time. You know the old saying “Good luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity”. Here are some of the most popular reports, along with the contact information to get your copies.

Employment Reports
ChoicePoint	1 866 312-8075
Check Writing History Report
Chexsystems	1 800 428-9623
Shared Check Authorization Network	1 800 262-7771 Fax: 1 800 358-4506
TeleCheck	1 800 835-3243
Residential And Tenant Reports
ChoicePoint	1 877 448-5732
Safe Rent	1 888 333-2413
UD Registry	1 818 785-3905
Medical History Reports
MIB	1 866 692-6901
Insurance Claims Reports
ISO A-Plus Reports	1 800 627-3487

For more information about your rights under the Fair Credit Act, or for information about obtaining other consumer reports, you can read more here.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.

The Unemployed Now Have a Union- And It's Catching On

Are you unemployed or underemployed? If so, there is a new union organization that is being formed to help people who have lost their jobs ban together to make changes and find adequate employment. The Union of the Unemployed, or Ucubed was started as a community service project by the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers ( IAM ). According to their website, Ucubed mission is-

It brings people together – the unemployed and underemployed alike – to build a community of Jobs Activists who will create local networks, support one another and help get America back to work.

The idea is that if everyone who is unemployed joins together, they can affect national change. Congress may be able to ignore jobless individuals, but it is much more difficult to ignore a group that is advocating change. By lobbying for issues like job creation, more reasonable COBRA benefits, unemployment insurance and increased food stamp benefits, the group can better have their voice heard.

How the union works is that when someone joins, they are given a list of other members in their zip code. 6 people in a zip code or area form a Ucube. 9 Ucubes for a neighborhood. Just 3 neighborhood Ucubes form a group of 162 people with a voice that is harder to ignore. On both the Ucube level and neighborhood level, the groups are self managed and elect their own leadership. According to their site-

Jobs Activists, organized by their zip codes, advocate for sound public policy, emailing public officials to alert them about policies that directly impact the jobless. And to help ease the burden of being unemployed, they receive steep discounts and rebate dollars when shopping the Machinists Mall.

Job Activists come from all walks of life, all corners of this country and all sectors of our economy. This Grave Recession has harmed us all – salary and hourly, manufacturing and construction, finance and service, union and non-union, college educated and high school dropouts, inner city and suburban residents. And only by working together can we end this economic turmoil.

The idea is unique, and has already received the support of the AFL-CIO and many of the prominent Unions. If fact, most worker's unions have begun encouraging their members who have lost their jobs to join Ucubed. It is vital for organized labor to show solidarity to those who haven't been able to earn a paycheck. The truth is that both the organized workers and the unemployed are working for the same team. Worker's rights benefit both groups. And when the economy recovers, and new jobs are created, the unions want the new workforce to have a good feeling about organized labor.

Even for people who do not want to join a union, the website and the group provide support and encouragement to unemployed people. The website attracts over 19,000 viewers a month and offers a place where people can share their unemployment stories and give each other advice and emotional support. It is an innovative idea and one worth watching.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a freelance writer and regular contributor to several websites and other publications, a volunteer, a full time mom and an active job seeker.

The Laid-Off Life: Secret Agency Man

"If you've ever seen the look on somebody's face the day they finally get a job, I've had some experience with this, they look like they could fly. And its not about the paycheck, it's about respect, it's about looking in the mirror and knowing that you've done something valuable with your day. And if one person could start to feel this way, and then another person, and then another person, soon all these other problems may not seem so impossible. You don't really know how much you can do until you, stand up and decide to try." – Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline), 'Dave'

Quick trivia question: What is the largest public company in the U.S. by number of employees?

That’s probably easy: the answer is Walmart with 1.8 million employees. Put them all in the same room, and you’d have the 5th biggest city in America (and probably a really long line for the restroom). But what’s number two?

Kelly Services employs 750,000. Kelly is a "global workforce solutions" company, or as us normal people would call it, a temp agency. That’s right kiddos, a temp agency is the second biggest employer in America. So, Walmart greeter or 'the temp'. That’s the best decision we now face in America when we’re looking for work? Walmart is, in its own special way, probably a great company, but unless you’re last name is Walton, you will doubtless be wearing a blue smock and a 'Hello My Name Is' pin at work.

That leaves us with the quaintly-named 'non-permanent staffing industry'. There are nearly 3 million temp workers currently 'staffed' in the U.S. today. Sound like a lot? Well, even this 'growth' industry has been hit by the downturn: there are 10% fewer temporary and contract employees working today than in 2007. As I interpret that, fewer companies are hiring temp workers today in favor of giving current employees greater responsibility without greater compensation. Even the temp is being downsized.

But what about temp agencies first-cousin, the 'recruiting firm', or as it used to be called (back when bathroom tissue was still 'toilet paper'), the 'employment agency'? In olden days, employment agencies were quaint, small, and, well, helpful. Think Kevin Kline’s pre-Presidential character in 'Dave'. It’s Monday - everybody works on Monday! The companies had a personal and ethical interest in finding work for their charges. And that they did. Today, as much of everything else, the employment industry has gone corporate, and with it, the same frustrations of dealing with any corporation.

Take a quick scan through job listings on your favorite job-aggregation website. Guaranteed half (three-quarters? all?) will be from staffing firms. Or temp agencies. Or Recruiting agencies. (I’ll be honest, I don’t really know the difference, nor do I care.) One way or another, they are all outsourced human resource departments. Click on any job listing and there’s a better-than-good chance that instead of being taken to the website of some great company you’d love to work for, you’ll be directed to WeHireSoYouDontHaveTo.com or JobsYouWantButCantSee.com. And of those, 9-times-out-of-10, the name of the actual company (and often the location) are no where to be found. And for me, the problem wouldn’t be so significant if there weren’t two gazillion recruiting firms because they all make you sign up with their agency and fill out form after form before you can even get to a place where you can apply for a job (and fill out form after form again). I just want to apply for the job, please. I don’t want to sign up with your agency, and I certainly don’t want a hundred emails from you asking to opt-in for searches and 'more information from our corporate partners'.

And that’s the front half of the story. I am equally disillusioned with the back half. I am not immune. I 'belong' to a big handful of such agencies claiming to be finding work for me on my behalf. In Philadelphia, or in whatever city you reside, agencies of this ilk number in the dozens like Westaff, Robert Half, The Boss Group, Hudson Global, Kforce, Aerotek, etc., etc., etc. Sometimes through one of the aforementioned online ads and sometimes seeking out on my own, I have signed up with these agencies in hopes of them assisting me in finding that 'perfect job'. Or 'any job'. On the figurative big marquee out front, they promote aid in finding you your next-great-full-time-job, but in the last few years, as recruiter after recruiter has informed me, those placements are drying up faster than Gulf Coast tourism. The pyramid is on its head, and the majority of openings are week- or month-long temp hires, part-time fill-in’s, and promises of 'temp-to-hire' opportunities which, I’m told behind closed doors, are good-intended but honestly just bait-and-switches. The 'to hire' part has become a myth and a PR brand. The recruitment company has become the temp agency. As I said, I can’t tell the difference.

But that has not stopped me from signing up with the brick-and-mortar agencies which, to their benefit-of-the-doubt, really are trying to place you. In this dog-layoff-dog world in which we live, you can’t pass any potential opportunity by. Maybe my good, dear recruitment-specialist friends (which seem to change on a monthly basis) can find me that job-in-a-haystack. Maybe there is some great temp-to-hire hiding in the weeds. Or possibly a great freelance gig. Something besides door-to-door sales or legalized pyramid schemes. I’m a writer, and that’s a tough job to catch these days. I don’t have technical writing experience and I haven’t written for 'pharma', and those are 80% of the writing jobs out there. But thanks to the Michael Laid-Off Life Agency (and some help from the temp agency known as Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Office), I have enough freelance gigs to keep me going.

So, like any good portfolio, job hunting requires you to diversify yourself. Use recruitment and 'talent' agencies. Use job aggregation sites. Use Craigslist. Use social networks and IRL networks. Use the newspaper. Use what the good lord gave you. Because you never know when you’ll see that needle sticking out of the haystack in the glinting sun.

In the mean time, anyone know what the employee discount is at Walmart?

Michael Hochman
LaidOffLife@yahoo.com ◙ Laid-Off Life on Twitter ◙ Laid-Off Life on Facebook

Michael is a Copywriter, Creative Marketer, and Broadcasting Professional still in search of full-time employment after 13 months of full-time job hunting, thanks to an "involuntary career sabbatical". A Philly native and Syracuse graduate, Michael will gladly accept any job offer you may have for him. Any. Really. Please give me a job??

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"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey