In the following article, we see that the private sector is getting help from the government in terms of training. These employers will get advice from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on proper screening techniques, to help mitigate the hiring of illegal workers. Read more…

The government is moving in the right direction with this proposed legislation. Read more…

I thought I would write a post about some of the more popular articles on our blog. Below is a list of some very useful articles, enjoy!

Here is an article on how to conduct free criminal background checks that I have written. It is pretty comprehensive. Take a look and let me know If I have missed anything or if you would like additional information.

http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/the-complete-guide-to-conducting-your-own-completely-free-criminal-record-check

Some more articles I have written:

Part I http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/how-to-conduct-your-own-free-background-check-part-i

Part II http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/how-to-conduct-your-own-free-background-check-part-ii

Part III http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/how-to-conduct-your-own-free-background-check-part-iii

Part IV http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/how-to-conduct-your-own-free-background-check-part-iv

Here is what a background check consists of:

http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/real-background-checks

Here are some common questions about background checks:

http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/questions-about-background-checks

A short criminal records primer that I have written:

http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/criminal-records-primer

Some common myths about background checks:

http://www.crimcheck.com/background-check-news/background-check-myths

Additional resources you may want to point people towards.

http://www.crimcheck.com/resources/

Fourth and Final in a series of four articles by Jack Thomas

Mr. Thomas is a Manager for a National Company,  Certified Facilitator for Advanced Management, and a Consultant to other Agencies.

I hope you’ve gained some insight to the process in the first three articles. Today, as promised, I am going to give you tips on finishing the process. One of the biggest mistakes, or oversights, is not including things that can be used on your application in the experience category. I’m not talking about the previous work experience or educational experiences here. We’ve discussed how to use those already from the notes you made. I think the best way is to share a couple of stories with you. Read more…

And now comes a story out of an Ohio community about a Deputy Sheriff walking the halls of an elementary, junior high and high school, carrying his 40 caliber handgun and assisting in maintaining order. One slight problem, he was not a sheriff’s deputy!
Stan Donaldson, a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer states that the suspect, a 21 year old security guard for a local mall, somehow obtained a deputy’s uniform and interacted with students and staff while roaming the halls.
The school district is, according to the article, working with the local police department to reevaluate it’s safety plan. According to Ken Trump, a national school safety expert quoted in the article, there have been only a handful of this type of incident reported. Indeed,and quite fortunately, the last time an event of this sort took place was in New Mexico in February of 2007. In that instance a sexual predator entered school grounds impersonating an officer and carrying a 6 inch folding knife. Thanks to the actions of the schools staff, who reported what they thought was suspicious behavior,specifically his appearance at all three schools in the same day, the suspect was apprehended and charged with impersonating an officer, possession of a deadly weapon and criminal trespassing. Apparently the suspect walked into a classroom and when the teacher asked if she could help him, he stated that he had the wrong classroom and walked out. One student became alarmed when he/she overheard him say that he would be back. The suspect had previously attended the high school in 2006, according to the Akron Suburbanite Newspaper.

Article written by Jack Thomas

Third in a series of four articles by Jack Thomas Mr. Thomas is a Manager for a National Company, Certified Facilitator for Advanced Management, and a Consultant to other Agencies.

We are finally down to the application itself. (Don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet!) This is supposedly the easy part after sweating out the resume. After all, the resume, if you did it correctly, was labor intensive, and time consuming. (Please tell me you devoted a lot of effort to your resume.)

Great! Now let’s discuss the difference between a good application and a poor one. Many people have the misconception that because the application is usually strictly formatted, there can’t be much difference among them. This is simply not true. You may notice a parallel between the interview process and the application itself. Good! You should notice! Here’s the scoop: During many discussions with other managers and business owners,we talk about the things that are humorous or just ridiculous that people do on their applications. Here are the top few: ( Followed by and explanation of how they hurt your chances, no extra charge for this info!.) Read more…

In the following article, a city has finally decided that it might be a good idea to conduct background checks on all new hires, because of the 12 or so employees that have arrest records, and of those individuals, half were convicted. In this day with information so readily available it is just plain negligence not to conduct criminal background checks. Read more…

There are several issues that I have with this article, because while it is a factual statement that background checks aren’t foolproof, there is a better method of conducting them. I really do not think that everything is being done to protect the children, if they are not exhausting all avenues of background checks, instead of relying on a cursory check at the beginning of their employment. There is a new trend out there, called progressive screening and has the same methodology as random drug screening. This could be a suggestion to the school district. Read more…

This is the second article in a series by our Guest Blogger Jack Thomas.

In the first of this series, I asked you to keep separate notes on each job or educational experience. Now you’ll find out why. Whether you decide to proceed with the resume yourself, or if you have to decided to have someone else do it for you, I want you to follow the same instructions. Part of selling yourself is to see things in a bigger picture frame of mind. You need to really focus on each experience and describe in detail, or at least expound on what the experience is. If you do it yourself, you should write it out first. If you’re having someone else do it, be sure you can at least explain it to them for the purposes of putting it in writing. Read more…

This article comes to us from our guest blogger Jack Thomas. Mr. Thomas is a Manager for a National Company, Certified Facilitator for Advanced Management, and a Consultant to other Agencies.

With all the changes in the way people communicate, we knew it was just a matter of time before the face to face applying for a job would become a thing of the past. There are a few exceptions out there, but far and large, more and more companies are using electronic media to at least start the process. So, how does this pertain to you? This is the first in a series of articles about how to address the process. Over the next few days I hope to share enough with you to make the process less cumbersome and more productive.  Let’s get started. Read more…