Pre-employment screening panic

[missyoumuch]

I've got a job offer conditional on completion of pre-employment screening.

On my CV I have listed that I worked at Company A from 2011-2014. The full detail is that I worked at Company A from 2011-2013, and in 2014 I worked for them in the same function as an external contractor because I had to relocate to another country for family reasons. I have all the contracts and invoices to prove that this was the case. In the screening questionnaire I answered honestly and have informed HR of the situation.

But as my CV doesn't say I was a contractor, it just says I was in that same role for the whole period, I am panicking that I am going to get flagged for this and they will rescind the job offer.

Anyone with experience in this who can advise? Thanks.

You’ll be fine OP. Honestly.

The screening company has asked for clarity on this issue now

I’ve had the same in a role that was temp to perm. My CV lists the full duration but for screening purposes I listed both employers (I was technically employed by an agency as a temp) and gave the respective dates. No issues at all. It’s not a unusual situation.

OP - then you simply tell the screening company what you told HR. CVs aren’t a legal document. I’m surprised they care about a job more than five years ago.

Well you did work at Company A for 3 years. Just tell them what you have told us. You don't have disclose on a CV whether you were FT, PT, consultant, etc.

Actually thinking about it a little more you don't need to explain yourself to the screening company at all. Just say it has been discussed with the HR team.

I had a similar experience, so list mine separately, but in covering letters or statements refer to the entire period in years, so during the 5 years....
Moving forward I would do that on your cv too.
I would simply explain to the company you've already discussed this with hr.

Agree cologne. It’s the employer that makes the decision - the screening company just presents the information to HR. I really wouldn’t worry OP. I once missed out a temping job on an application for a job in banking.

I had an employment gap and the screening company contacted me to see a bank statement to prove I hadn’t been in work during that time. I apologised and said I’d forgotten I had a temping job during that time period. They didn’t even contact the employer for a reference, they just wanted to cover the gap.

I missed out a whole job on my CV (admittedly short term), and then got vetted to BS standards.

I put it on the vetting form. Just explained to employer that as the job was so short lived I didn't put it on my CV

Twas fine

Thanks everyone. So the screening company sent it to HR, and HR asked me to explain it again, in writing. Of course this happened on Friday evening so will spend the weekend stressing about it.

You all talk sense and my DH agrees, hoping it will all work out.

Honestly if the company you're applying to can't get their heads round this with a little explanation and common sense then don't work for them.

It would be absolutely fine for us!

But whether you stress about it or not, it won’t change their decisions either way. Enjoy your weekend! You’ve done everything you can to explain the issue.

You’ll be fine. There’s different levels of inconsistencies which the screening company will pick up. Some are amber some are red etc.. usually only rescinded if it’s red and those are for pretty serious things ( I’ve only seen it once) this sounds quite minor abd you were upfront with HR . Tbh they wouldn’t care if you were contractor or full time anyway as they are hiring you based on your work experience

I work in hr, honestly this wouldn’t be a problem. We are required by our clients to do certain checks so we would just want to make sure that we have all the info on file in case of audit. Please don’t waste your weekend worrying about this!

its perfectly normal to conflate for simplicity in a CV - they are supposed to be a summary. no one is going to think you were being dishonest there. it will be fine. a CV that went into the detail requires for complete disclosure in your situation would be too cluttered and read badly and probably fail to get you any job. there were no lies you just left out the tedious admin detail of how and why you were paid differently for two time periods.

Best to update your CV to explain the dates or this will happen again.

Obviously I will update it in future but that doesn’t particularly help me now

I didn’t go into that level of detail as it seemed irrelevant, I did the job as described for that whole period, but my employment terms changed.

Really hoping for the best now.

You will be absolutely fine.

You’ll be fine! I do this in my job and we have to have a complete timeline on file due to audits etc as pp said, but also it’s just good practice. From what you’ve said, it’s a minor thing they’re clarifying and really common in employment histories. Issues arise where there are potentially major discrepancies in employment dates or reasons for leaving etc. What you’ve described is really normal in work histories.

I haven’t had any response to the explanation I sent on Friday evening. Should I follow up or just wait until HR contacts me?

I’d wait and I’m sure you will be fine :)

@missyoumuch was everything ok?

Still waiting. I’ve lived in more than one country during the period they’re screening for so been advised it may take two weeks. Thanks for asking though