CAREERS NOW 01-13-08

Avoiding Mistakes on Job Applications

DEAR JOYCE: I finally found the job of my dreams. I received a call the day after I e-mailed my resume and was interviewed about a month later. A week after my interview, the recruiter phoned me to say they were moving forward with me.

I then faxed my (formal) application and consent for background checking to her. I never heard from her again. Finally I received a letter thanking me for my interest in the position. I was devastated! Of course I obsessively tried to figure out what happened. Finally I realized that I had failed to carefully read the application form

The previous employment dates I gave were off by a couple of months. Also, I didn't include all my past employers on a separate sheet of paper. My reasoning at the time: I had no intent to deceive but figured the employment check would tell them exactly what they needed to know.

How wrong I was. As soon as I realized my mistake I e-mailed the recruiter to apologize but have not heard back.

My other speculation is that I may have been rejected because of some bad credit from 10 years ago. Ten years ago!

So have I committed the ultimate recruitment crime where there are no second chances? Will this company ever consider me in the future? - C.M.

As a cautionary tale, the answer to your problem almost writes itself: Don't allow euphoria at a job search's happy ending to distract your attention when filling out application forms, which are legal documents (resumes are not legal documents).

As for the decade-old bad credit, legally they are supposed to tell you if that was the deal killer. But check into this impediment and make the issue disappear. Most negative credit information can be kept on your consumer credit report for seven years, and bankruptcy information for 10 years. Your shelf date has expired. Google "Fair Credit Reporting Act" and see what you legally can do to scrub your record, which unfairly may be harming your ability to become employed.

Regarding your future prospects with this specific employer, much like the diversity of theories posited by media commentators on why certain candidates won in recent presidential primaries, opinions of several consultants were not unanimous.

Answers ranged from "forget it and move on" to "network your way to the line manager who supervises the job, explain that you were so excited about it you made a small mistake and please, sir, can you have a do-over?"

Assuming the missed position is not the only game in town, my advice is to move on to another company that hires for virtually the same position and start fresh - after you clean up your credit record.

DEAR JOYCE: An unemployed friend in his mid-40s was a marketing manager for a well- known corporation. His job history is good but he's going nowhere in his job hunt. Suggestions? - G.M.

First suggestion: Attend, for a reasonable fee, ExecuNet (execunet.com) transition meetings held monthly in many urban areas of the nation. Besides hearing speakers and getting personal advice, your friend can rub elbows with other transitioning executives and professionals. These meetings boost morale because the job seeker knows he's not on the run alone out there.

Second suggestion: Check out RiteSite.com, an online executive service that offers not only a list of vetted recruiters and job postings, but a virtual encyclopedia of executive market career advice. The service's annual fee is still a bargain at $94.

Noteworthy and free: "Scan for People" is a new RiteSite feature that makes it easy for you to reclaim people - perhaps hundreds of them -- whom you've lost contact with over the years. Talk about beefing up a personal network!

The service is a tool that combines every Web site that might yield location, phone and other contact information on a person. You type in your criteria only once, not again and again, and you don't miss search engine sites you've never heard of. I tried the tool and it's fun and offered without charge to nonmembers and members alike. Enter RiteSite on the left side of the home screen through the "Executives" door, and then click on Scan for People appearing on the left panel.

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