recruiter is asking for ss
I have gone to agencies that have me fill out a form and it asks for my ss, but this time it's just a recruiter that I have not met in person. The recruiter claims to need my ss ( for a background check ) in order to submit me to a position at yahoo. I'm inclined to pass, but it is a shot at yahoo... Has anybody gone through similar experience? Am I being too paranoid?
I don' t think so. I don' t know what kind of background check a recruiter would need. I can see how Yahoo would need it after they offer you a position, but that' s different. I would tell him that you have nothing to hide but you aren' t comfortable with disclosing it. I would ask him exactly what he needs it for and why he needs it now. The agencies and recruiters do the checks before they submit your stuff to the clients, so they have a "clean" candidate to submit to them. It would really look bad if they were supposed to be doing all the background work on the candidate, and they didn' t check you out beforehand. After all, that' s the reason the clients are paying them the big bucks: so they can do all the background, interviewing and elimination grunt work that the client neither has the time or talent to do. Just be glad you didn' t have to fill out the form that makes you list your previous addressees for the last seven to ten years. That really sucks. I have had four homes since 1996, and had trouble remembering my oldest address when I had to do that a few months ago.
What type of "background work" do they do that requires? They do a lot of different checks, but from what I have been told, it includes reference checks, credit checks (thus, needing the SS#), background checks (thus needing the previous addresses), DMV record checks, etc. I hate giving my SS # too, but do give it, because I don' t want to have it mean I won' t get a position because I have not given it to them. One of these days I' m going to ask them if they want my first born grandchild, too. Trouble is, he' s an 18 year old high school senior, so they may not want him!!! I don' t think that is correct though. The only check you mentioned that would require a ss# is the credit check, and most companies don' t require that even when you get the job. For a recruiter to ask for that information up front is very fishy. I' ve never had an agency ask me for that. It could be some kind of post 9/11 thing I suppose, but I would definitely ask them why they need it. Unless they have a real good reason I wouldn' t provide it. I have registered with probably nine or ten different temporary agencies, staffing agencies or recruiters, all since June, 2003, and every one of them has required my SS# upon registration, as have probably 1/3 of the companies I have interviewed with. It' s really hard to believe you haven' t had any agencies ask you for yours. You don' t have to provide it, of course, but chances are if you don' t, you won' t be considered for employment. In my case, being in the financial end of the business, more and more companies are running background/credit checks nowadays. I' d be leery of providing this to a recruiter you' ve never met before. Is this an online recruiter only? Have you googled them to check them out? Are they a known entity, with a solid reputation? Do they have a local office you can meet with them in? Do you know for a fact that there is indeed an opening at yahoo? Whenever yahoo is mentioned anywhere, be careful! Yahoo itself is OK, but lots of people use the Yahoo name to scam others. (I was almost scammed on Yahoo auctions a few years back, both on buying something and when I sold something.) So some very thorough research on this company before you release info to them. Ask for two or three references you can check out--either names/contact info of employers they work with or employees they have placed. Both, if you can get them. Of course, if this is a large firm with a good reputation (and you can verify you are really dealing with them, such as by looking up the company contact info on your own and calling/e-mailing them that way, instead of using the info they give you), you' re probably OK with this. I' m not usually paranoid, but when I hear "yahoo" and the circumstances seem in the least suspect, I' d do my homework first! I don' t think I' ve ever had to give a recruiter a ss# during a phone screening. I don' t think my DH has either, not until he has been submitted to the client and they are ready to interview him. With online applications direct to a company, it' s different, though. I think they always ask for ss#.
Yeah, as soon as the recruiter asked, I asked him where his local branch is. The website of the company matches up with his contact number. Since this happened late yesterday, I only got voice mails. This could be just a part of the setup. Their office is conveniently too far for me to want to meet in person as well. I will follow up monday. There' s a little conflict that he sayshe' s in the Thousand Oaks branch of careertrust, but the web site onlyshows it as branch of corestaff. But corestaff seems legitimate. Yes there is an opening as I google for the job posting. So its half and half at this point. I think I' ll randomly call several of the corestaff branches to confirm if they would need ssn. I thinnkkkk... that would be adequate. What do you guys think? | |
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