No bozos!

For Sharon Baker, founder of Teleduction Inc., a 35-year-old Wilmington film production company, recruiting good employees is the cornerstone of an organization's success. To prove it, hire a "bad apple," she said.

Baker knows firsthand. In the 1980s, she hired a worker who came highly recommended. Before long, the employee was showing up late, sometimes dishevelled. The worker's performance became erratic. It didn't take long for Baker to admit it wasn't working out. Worse, she realized the worker's previous employer had glowingly recommended someone "they were desperately trying to get rid of," Baker said.

"It was devastating," Baker said. "The lost salary is a lot of money for a small business. It's demoralizing for the other employees. But I learned a very valuable lesson: There should be a trial period."

The recruitment of key employees is what makes or breaks a business -- even more than financing, say employment specialists and business leaders.

"Today, it's crucial to do a background check. It's too expensive to not do your due diligence," Challenger said.

How Bad Credit Can Affect Job Prospects

We all know that our personal credit history affects our ability to secure a home loan or open an account at a department store. But most Americans are unaware that bad credit could cost them a job. Employers can refuse to hire applicants because of their credit history.

Many employers use credit history as a tool in their pre-employment screening as just one measure of judgment and character. If you can't manage your financial obligations, they wonder if it's a sign of irresponsibility. If your monthly debt payment is higher than your salary, some employers worry that it may distract from your performance.

Application Asks for Your Salary, But Is It Better to List a Range?

Many candidates still try to get away with falsehoods on applications, says Mr. Morris, president of Background Information Services Inc. in Cleveland. Of job applicants it has screened during the past seven years, 56% have misstated their salaries by $1,000 or more, were a month or more inaccurate about their employment dates, or listed positions different than the ones they actually held, he says.

Besides using screening firms to check on candidates' backgrounds, some companies ask for final pay stubs or W-2 tax forms to verify salary, adds Jim Pappas, manager of corporate staffing for the Barnes Group Inc., an international diversified manufacturing-and-distribution company based in Bristol, Conn.

Trans Woman Can Sue

US District Judge Nancy F. Atlas in Houston has ruled that a transsexual Texan, Izza Lopez, can pursue a sex discrimination employment claim against River Oaks Imaging & Diagnostic Group.

Use Auto Refinancing to Ease the Family Budget
The sex discrimination claim is based in the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act.