Keeping a record of your career history is one of the most vital steps to take while searching for a job.
When you apply for any job, employers usually ask you to provide your career history.
Regardless of your qualification and job experience, your career history can have a direct influence on your chances of getting a job.
To give yourself the best possible chance of being invited to an interview, it’s crucial to present your career experience to date.
In this post, you’ll learn what is career history, why it matters, and how to get your work history right. Let’s get started!
What is Career History?
Your work history, also known as your work record or employment history is a detailed record containing relevant information about your previous workplaces, including the list of jobs you have worked for, companies you have worked for, your job title and responsibilities, and dates of employment for each role.
Some companies only require a more recent work history, while others may request an extensive career history containing all the complete records of your employment history including the names and contact numbers of your previous employers, your salary history, and credit history.
Why Does Career History Matter?
Your work history helps the recruiting managers assess your work experience and acquired skills and collect information regarding your work ethics and loyalty to determine whether you are a good match for the position.
It is also a great way to verify your honesty and ability to stay with a single company.
Many employers may also conduct pre-employment background checks to verify the information you have provided so never share the wrong information with your prospective employer.
You also need to provide your most recent work history while applying for unemployment benefits as a part of the application process.
Keep in mind that if the employers find that the dates provided are wrong during the verification, it will be a red flag that could jeopardize your chances of getting the job.
What Details Should There Be In My Employment History?
Many companies ask their applicants to provide details about their employment history. Here’s what your employment history should include:
- Name all the companies you have worked at.
- Your job title at those companies.
- Duties & responsibilities.
- Term of employment.
- Contact and names of supervisors of your previous companies.
- Your criminal record.
- Some companies may also require your salary or credit history.
How To Obtain My Career History?
If you have lost or forgotten your career history record, then here are some ways in which you can obtain the information again:
- Check your tax returns and related documents, as they may have your employment record.
- Get in touch with your past employers. Many companies keep records of their employees, and you might be able to find a good deal of information like this.
- If you have ever applied for a credit card or even a loan in the past, then you will be able to access your credit records from where you can get information about your previous employment.
Importance Of career History For HR Professionals?
The career history of a candidate allows you to evaluate him/her and understand if they will be an ideal fit for your company.
It can offer valuable information about the following things:
- Work experience: The employment history of a candidate allows you to get details about their work experience. It allows them to check whether they have worked for a similar company, what his/her duties & responsibilities include, what their tasks looked like, and more.
- Past performance: You can know how accomplished or talented the candidate is by accessing their past performance. Have they achieved a milestone for their previous organization? Did they win any awards? Have they been promoted? All this information is key to hiring a promising employee.
- Previous employers: How often people lie on their CVs. But you can always reach out to the candidate’s previous employees and cross-check how good or bad their behavior has been towards work.
How to Get Your Career History Right?
Begin writing your career history by listing all the jobs you had up to the present day.
Don’t include the part-time jobs you had in school, and only include the jobs from the past 10-years, including the volunteer work only if it is relevant to the position you are applying for.
You can create a computer file or physical log of all professional developments.
Make sure to log every new job, position title, key responsibilities, awards, achievements, promotion, career gaps, or any other information you find worth including.
If you don’t remember the accurate details, you can recreate your career history with the help of information from the Social Security Administration, your state’s tax or unemployment department, or the Internal Revenue Service.
If your employer does not require specific details, you can mention the months or years you have worked for a company instead of citing the exact dates of employment on the CV.
What is Employment Background Checks?
What To Do When a Candidate’s Employment History Reveals Problems?
Sometimes you might come across candidates whose employment history will reveal serious red flags such as misbehavior, poor conduct or performance, etc., which will prompt you to disqualify them. But is there a way to deal with this situation?
- Ask the candidate for more information: You can always ask the candidate about the work gap in their resume or about any other red flag that you see.
- Get in touch with references: You can get in touch with the candidate’s references to know more about their employment history and conduct.
- Get in touch with previous employers: If you see a red flag concerning their behavior, then you can even get in touch with their previous employer and find out more about the person.
Wrapping Up
So employment history of a candidate plays a very important role in hiring, and for candidates, it means keeping your employment history clean and up to date.
We hope this article on what career history is and why it is important was useful to you.
People Also Ask For
How to obtain a copy of someone’s employment history?
An easy way to get your hands on someone’s employment history is by asking them.
While asking for the candidate’s documents and other details, you can simply ask for the employment history form as a part of the hiring process.
However, you might need to verify the employment history to see if the details provided are true or not. This you can do via platforms like GoodHire, HireRight, etc.
What is employment history used for?
Employment history is used for:
- Candidate screening
- Candidate shortlisting
- Interview
What is the difference between a resume and employment history?
A resume is a precise summary of your previous jobs, and it includes your work history that is relevant to the job that you have applied for.
An employment history, on the other hand, contains the details of all the jobs that you have undertaken and a detailed account of them.
Shefali Jain is a Content Writer & Editor at USWorkforce.org
After completing her graduation in hospitality, Shefali decided to follow her passion and started writing. Shefali has been writing for two years now and contributes to our website as a skilled editor and content writer with strong research skills. Writing product and service reviews, biographies, and book reviews are some of her key areas, among many others in which she specializes. In her time at the organization, she has written and edited content on a range of topics, including employment law, human resources, and business management.
