Nick Fishman

Nick Fishman co-founded EmployeeScreenIQ in 1999 and serves as the company's Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President. He oversees all of EmployeeScreenIQ's sales and marketing activities, including business development and brand building initiatives. Contact him at nfishman@employeescreen.com .

Articles by Nick Fishman

HR News & Trends

FTC Warns Background Screeners For Possible Privacy Violations

by on May 10, 2013, 12:20 PM  |  1 comment
Backgroundchecks

Editor’s Note: Weekly Wrap is taking the week off to belatedly celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It will return next Friday.

The Federal Trade Commission recently sent letters to 10 data broker companies warning that their practices could violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) after a test-shopping operation by the FTC indicated the background screening companies were willing to sell consumer information without abiding by FCRA requirements.

It’s unclear what requirements they are accused of violating, but the commission included the following commentary in the release: Read more…

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HR Management, HR News & Trends

Should Employers Ask Candidates for Their Facebook Passwords?

by on May 7, 2013, 10:20 AM  |  No comments yet
Facebookpasswords Social media

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) which helps individuals protect their right to privacy and prohibits an employer from impersonating an employee online when other employees are interacting across social media platforms.

Removed from this bill at the last minute was a provision that would have banned employers from asking job candidates and employees for their social media passwords.

Given the public sentiment on this issue, not to mention the media outcry, this omission is a big surprise to me. Kudos to Congress for not caving to public pressure on this one. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Recruiting and Staffing

SHRM Background Check Findings: How Survey Results Can Get Twisted

by on Jul 27, 2012, 11:29 AM  |  No comments yet
Backgroundchecks

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently released their 2012 survey results on employers’ use of criminal background checks and we wanted to take the time to break down some of their key findings.

The one I want to focus on today is the question they asked about whether employers allow job candidates to explain the results of their criminal checks.

According to the study 58 percent of respondents said that they allow candidates to explain the results of their criminal checks before the decision to hire or not to hire is made, and 27 percent allow them to do so after a decision is made. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Recruiting and Staffing

Are Fewer Employers Using Employment Background Checks?

by on Jul 24, 2012, 12:17 PM  |  No comments yet
Backgroundchecks

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) just published an eye-opening study on employers use of employee background checks.

The big takeaway that SHRM and other industry writers have chosen to highlight is that the use of pre-employment background screening has declined since their last survey was conducted in 2010. In the 2012 survey, 14 percent of respondents say that they never perform criminal background checks compared to 7 percent in 2010.

This finding is particularly puzzling and runs counter to what we are seeing in the marketplace. Read more…

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Recruiting and Staffing

5 More Ways That Job Applicants Try to Game the System

by on Jun 22, 2012, 10:30 AM  |  No comments yet
ace of hearts

Editor’s Note: Yesterday, we published the Top 5 ways that some applicants try to “game” the system and get around pre-employment background checks (you can read that here). Today, we round out the Top 10 with five more ways people try to deceive hiring managers.

6. Candidate presents fake diploma when degree couldn’t be verified.

You can’t verify that your candidate actually has the academic degree they claim, so you inquire and they offer to send you a copy of the diploma.

C’mon, you’re smarter than that, right? It has never been easier to create bogus documents, complete with raised seals and everything. The best way to determine academic qualifications is to make an inquiry with the academic institution’s registrar’s office. Read more…

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Recruiting and Staffing

Applicants Do the Darndest Things: 5 Ways They Try to Game the System

by on Jun 21, 2012, 12:30 PM  |  2 Comments
Photo by istockphoto.com

Over the years, we here at EmployeeScreenIQ have seen our fair share of deceptions from job applicants, and we’re guessing you have, too (our personal favorite is the candidate who faked her own death to avoid criminal prosecution).

However, did you spot the deception immediately or find out after the fact?

Below is your roadmap (the Top 5 ways, with the rest of the Top 10 list tomorrow) for spotting these mistruths before you make a hiring decision. One common theme you will notice throughout is the need for human oversight.

In this age of technology, employers are looking for ways to streamline and automate the hiring process. And while most of these technologies, such as HRIS and Applicant Tracking Systems, fit the bill, they have also created new ways for job applicants to ”misremember” the facts. Read more…

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Recruiting and Staffing

8 Common Misconceptions About Background Screening

by on Jun 7, 2012, 12:25 PM  |  No comments yet
Backgroundchecks

Let’s face it. The economy is still a mess and people aren’t finding jobs fast enough.

Given this fact, there are a lot of people looking to place the blame for these developments. And has been the case for the last several years, many are focusing on employment screening and background checks. I won’t say that all who oppose background check are flat out wrong in every instance, but all too frequently they rely on myths, misconceptions and urban legends to support their arguments.

Here is my list of the most commonly held misconceptions about employment background checks: Read more…

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Recruiting and Staffing

Keeping Em’ Honest: Responding to the National Background Check Report

by on Apr 19, 2012, 11:05 AM  |  1 comment
Backgroundchecks

Earlier this month, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) published a report damning the background screening industry for what they characterize as a reckless disregard for accuracy in their reporting.

And of course, as the general media is wont to do, they jumped all over this sensational report without asking for comment from the other side. To borrow a phrase from CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “I’m Keeping Em’ Honest.”

Whereas, I generally take up for the industry in my responses to these types of attacks on the industry, I would rather focus just on EmployeeScreenIQ today. So, let me start by saying that there are those in our industry that are guilty of some or all of the practices highlighted in the report. However, this study paints the industry with way too broad a brush; assuming all of or the the majority of us operate in this reckless fashion. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Recruiting and Staffing

Is the EEOC Trying to End Credit Reports on Job Candidates Entirely?

by on Mar 15, 2012, 12:55 PM  |  No comments yet
Backgroundchecks

It’s no secret that both state and federal governments have been scrutinizing the practice of employment background screening like never before, and that they have been actively pursuing legislation and litigation to limit the use of this hiring tool.

Here are some examples of what has been happening:

  • Dozens of new federal and state laws that affect hiring practices, employee rights and labor relations;
  • Increased enforcement actions and lawsuits brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC) challenging the use of credit and criminal history; Read more…
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HR News & Trends, Recruiting and Staffing

Jerry Sandusky Denied Employment After 2010 Background Check

by on Dec 8, 2011, 1:10 PM  |  No comments yet
sandusky

Philadelphia TV stations are reporting that former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was denied the opportunity to coach at a local college last year because the school saw that he was under investigation at the time they conducted a background check. Well, thank goodness for that.

According to the story:

Officials at Juniata College said Wednesday that Sandusky applied for the volunteer football coaching job in May 2010 and rejected the following month after a background check showed a high school where Sandusky previously volunteered was investigating him. Read more…

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