Health & Fitness
What American Idol Can Teach Us About The Hiring Process
If you watched American Idol on Wednesday night, you could have learned something. Whether you are a job applicant or an employer, the show taught us an important lesson.
Wednesday night, I, along with close to 18 million viewers watched as American Idol contestant Jermaine Jones was confronted and booted from the popular singing show for not being truthful on his application to be a contestant, as well as subsequent entrance interviews regarding his criminal past. American Idol Producers, Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick explained that the decision to remove Jones from the competition was based mainly in the fact that Jermaine Jones had lied about his criminal history. They stated that a lot of contestants have various legal troubles and that the show producers try to help the contestants clear things up, so long as there is honest communication up front. According to American Idol, Jermaine Jones, who resides in New Jersey, has 4 outstanding criminal warrants for his arrest, as well as charges for giving false names to police and engaging in fighting.
This exact situation happens in businesses every day across the world. Jermaine Jones joins the ranks of the estimated 40% of people who lie or falsify job applications or resumes in order to gain a position within a company. In business, it is a violation of the EEOC to have a blanket statement against hiring people with a criminal record. Employers take criminal records on a case by case basis and need to determine whether or not the crime is directly related to the position that the applicant is seeking. Once an applicant lies about a criminal record, an educational degree or previous employment, the applicant’s integrity is questioned. Employers have an obligation to verify the information reported by an applicant to ensure that the applicant is not only telling the truth, but qualified to do the job being sought. For an employer to find out about a criminal past or a misrepresented resume after the applicant has been hired, shows a breach of integrity to the company brand and in some instances, a breach of safety to other employees. In many cases, applicants who would have otherwise had their past overlooked, are now not being considered because they lied on the application or in their resume. In the case of American Idol, the man nicknamed “The Gentle Giant” turned out to be not so gentle.
