Frequently Asked Questions by Employers

How does MyJobHistory.com help me?

MJH takes the guesswork out of hiring by providing you with independently pre-verified facts about your candidates. No longer are you forced to accept applicants' statements about whom they are or what they did, only to find out later that this information is not true. No longer do firms need to delay hiring decisions to conduct costly and time-consuming reference checks. With MJH, what you see is what you get. When you read Reports from applicants who have used the MJH service, you know you are dealing with bona fide candidates who are ready, willing and able to have their information verified independently. That saves you time and money in the recruiting process.
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How do I use MJH to verity the candidate I am considering?

Look for a MJH Seal of Verification on a Report or a MJH Certificate of Verification. That shows that you are looking at a pre-verified candidate. The Seal or Certificate of Verification will contain an Access Code and the JobSeeker' ID (their e-mail address). Simply enter the information from hardcopy into our system, and you can instantly see an applicant's Verification Report (See Samples).
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What Information am I seeing?

MJH independently verifies past employment education and credentials (See Sample). This information, which we have independently pre-verified through our own efforts, belongs exclusively to MJH. A JobSeeker has NO access to the MJH portion of the report. A job applicant can also use the report as an online resume. The JobSeeker has a text box before and after he MJH verification where they can add a cover letter, resume, skills summary, etc. (See samples)
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How does the screening performed by MJH differ from other services?

By using MJH, an employer can review a candidate who was pre-screened by an independent, outside professional Credentials Verification Organization (CVO). Many job sites use the word "screened' simply to mean that the candidate's non-verified resume is submitted to some sort of matching software. When MJH says a candidate is screened we mean that we have conducted independent professional checks to verify the facts, including past jobs, schools, professional certificates and credentials. In addition, MJH is an ongoing service, and not a one-time static background check.
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Do I need to register to use MJH?

That depends totally upon what the applicant has requested. If an applicant has designated their Verification Report as non-restricted, then you do not need to register. You are then taken directly to the Verification Report (after consenting to conditions of use.) If the applicant has requested that s/he be told who is looking at her/his Report, then you are directed to a "Quick Registration" page that takes about 10 seconds to complete. Please note: when you register, your privacy is protected 100%. There is no unsolicited marketing, and employer information is never sold or shared in any way without your permission.
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What is a JobSeeker ID?

The JobSeeker ID is an applicant's e-mail address. Each applicant using the MJH serve will supply their JobSeeker ID on their MJH Seal or Certificate of Verification.
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What is an Access Code?

An Access Code is a code word or set of numbers that a JobSeeker may give to a prospective employer to allow that employer to access his or her online Verification Report with MJH. Use of Access Codes allows JobSeekers to protect their information from unwarranted access.
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Do applicants know that I looked at their Reports?

Yes. An applicant is automatically e-mailed anytime anyone looks at his/her Report. If an applicant has registered an "unrestricted Report," then s/he is informed only that it was looked at, and no other details are available.
If the applicant has ordered a "registered" Report, then the information obtained in the registration process is forwarded to the applicant.
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What information is contained in a verified Report?

MJH currently verifies employment, education, professional credentials and licenses. For employment, MJH will attempt to verify start date, end date, job title, and salary. For education, MJH will attempt to verify dates of attendance and degrees granted.
For professional credentials and licenses, MJH will attempt to obtain the name of the credential or license, any identifying number, the name of the issuing agency, when obtained and periods of validity. At this time, MJH does not obtain subjective or reference information from past employers, such as "Please describe the quality of the applicant's work," or "Did the applicant show leadership skills". The reason is that there are too many variables. MJH will obtain and report only factual matters.
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How do you get the information?

MJH utilizes the services of a nationally recognized independent Credentials Verification Organization. This is an independent, third party that specializes in contacting past employers and schools to verify information on behalf of employers. The CVO uses accepted industry practices and techniques to obtain information on behalf of job applicants. The primary method is to make telephone contact with the appropriate party. On some occasions, fax and mail are used to obtain the information. The CVO also has access to various national and regional databases.
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Why do you limit past employment verification to factual matters, instead of asking questions about job performance?

At this time, MJH sticks just to the facts. In the future, we will offer a premium service where we acquire actual reference information about an applicant in addition to dates of employment, job title, and salary. However, qualitative reference questions (such as "Describe the applicant's strengths") can be very sensitive matters to past employers and applicants alike. Many employers will provide only factual information and have a policy against reference information. In addition, most prospective employers have their own specific questions when doing reference interviews. In addition, it is difficult to judge the usefulness of third party reference checks. However, just having the verified facts is extremely valuable in a job search. It allows an employer to focus on just the top candidates.
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Are their any limitations on my use of the information?

Although MJH provides Reports that have been pre-verified by a professional Credentials Verification Organization (CVO), the services are governed by our Terms of Use for the site, as well as applicable state and federal laws and regulations that are applicable to all employment decisions.
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Can MJH guarantee I will hire the best candidate for the job?

No. MJH does not act as a guarantor or insurer that you are hiring the correct candidate. The hiring decision is completely up to you. MJH verifies that a candidate has the job history, and educational and credentials that they claim.
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I am a recruiting or staffing firm. Can I use MJH?

YES! If a JobSeeker provides a staffing agency or recruiter with a MJH Access Code and JobSeeker ID, then that candidate can be instantly verified. For a staffing firm, a MJH verified applicant could be sent out to work that day!!! For recruiters, MHJ saves valuable time and energy by giving instant verification. Staffing firms and recruiters can cut the placement time dramatically by suggesting to JobSeekers that they come pre-verified.
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If I use MJH, do I need any other background check?

An employer should still conduct whatever due diligence they normally perform. The value of MJH is to help employers sort through a sea of resumes and focus on those candidates who were willing to have their qualifications scrutinized by MJH. An employer is still well advised to take their normal steps to make sure a person is a good fit for the job and organization. In addition, a firm may still wish to conduct a criminal record check. MJH does not currently offer an applicant supplied criminal checks because of a number of potential problems. First, it is usually the employer that decides where to conduct the search and how extensive it should be, not an applicant. Secondly, a criminal search is only good up until the day it was conducted. When an applicant supplies the criminal search, there is no way to know it is up to date. MJH partners with a leading nationwide background-screening firm, Employment Screening Resources (http://www.ESRcheck.com) that can supply expert criminal background checks for employers.
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How does MyJobHistory differ from other applicant verification sites?

Answer: There are at least two other applicant pre-verification sites on the Internet. These sites both offer a variation of criminal search. Booth offer a database search, and one site also offers a county courthouse search where applicants pick their counties.

First, MJH provides a lifetime verification service, not one that requires you to pay again every 60-90 days. These other sites are merely selling you a one-time report.

The reason these other sites have their data expire is because these site also allow applicants to conduct their own criminal background checks. Since criminal information is only good up to the very date it was run, these sites by necessity had to limit the effective dates of the searches.

MyJobHistory believes that applicant supplied criminal information has little value to an employer and can create legal liability. The so-called national criminal databases are only secondary tools to be used by experienced research firms in addition to county level searches. These records do not come from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the FBI’s national criminal database. The national databases are hit or miss compilation of various state or local databases that report criminal histories in a hit or miss manner. They are not accepted as reliable in the screening industry as a primary source of criminal records. These databases have numerous issues when it comes to completeness, accuracy, or timeliness. Many of the databases are merely state wide repositories where some counties either do not report their data or report infrequently. In addition, MyJobHistory contends that these databases are dangerous when used by a non-professional. A person with a criminal record could easily be missed form a database, and an employer can be lulled into thinking they are hiring a person who has been cleared. Conversely, the fact that a person’s name is in such a database do not man they are a criminal. There can be an identity issues, or the criminal history may not be legally useable for employment purposes.

MJH contends that it is the employer that decides where to conduct the search and how extensive it should be, not an applicant. According to MyJobHistory, A criminal search is only good up until the day it was conducted. When an applicant supplies the criminal search, there is no way to know it is up to date or if the applicant supplied every relevant county.

These other sites also offer some variation of social security or identity verification. MJH also dos not supply social security trace/identity check data. Past address are likely not relevant to employment and those checks are not “official” checks from the social security administration, but rather based primarily on private sector data, which can also be inaccurate or confusing.

Relying upon applicant supplied data raises other legal issues. Employers may be subject to claims of discriminatory treatment if they accept an applicant supplied background for candidates willing and able to pay for them, and then use other methods for candidate who did not use an online service. Employers utilize the same procedure for all applicants, and utilize the applicant supplied data only at the beginning of the process to help decide who to focus on.

In addition, MJH began the patent process in October 2001.

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