Question about providing work history on the application form

[flx2015]

I'm a Canadian Citizen and am currently working as a civil engineer right here in Canada. I'm just going through preparing my application, and I've noticed that the application asks for the names and phone numbers of my past and present employers. Will they actually contact each employer by phone? If so, does anyone have any idea as to what they're going to ask them?

The reason I'm concerned is because when I applied for my current job, I had omitted my previous employer from my resume because they had fired me without reason after only six months on the job; I didn't want potential employers contacting them and then throwing out my resume after being told that I was fired. My work history was already spotty at this point and I thought that this omission might help me to improve my chances of finding a job. Although many of you won't condone my course of action, I hope you will at the very least understand why I chose to do this. Now for my sponsorship application, I intend to be truthful and will list my actual work history. If CIC calls my current employer and tells them of my actual work history, there's no telling what my current employer would do.

Just to be clear, I'm not concerned about whether my sponsorship application will go through. What I am concerned about is losing my job if/when CIC tells my current employer about my work actual history. Am I being paranoid here?

 

[WeeHippieElf]

my guess is as good as yours, but here's my guess:

i don't think CIC necessarily calls all of your past employers (imagine how long that would take!), and i'm not even sure they call current employers. even if they do call your current employer, i doubt they would say anything at all about your previous jobs.. what benefit would it be to them to speak to your current employer about your past employers?

that said, if you include a letter of employment from your current job - including when you started, how many hours you work each week, your wage rate, and an assurance that your job is secure and in good standing - that might answer any questions they have and preclude a call to your current employer.

worst case scenario, if it turns out they do call and spill the beans, i think a simple explanation like you gave here - 'worked there briefly, something happened, i was let go - didn't bring it up because i was worried it would stand in the way of getting this job - i've learned my lesson and won't be doing that again, and am really glad to be a part of this great company' - should be understandable to your current boss, especially if you're a good employee.

good luck!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Will they actually contact each employer by phone?

They won't contact any of your employers.

 

[flx2015]

WeeHippieElf, that's also what I was thinking. Still, the reason I'm nervous about this is because I don't understand the purpose behind the work history question.

I said earlier that I intend to provide my actual work history in the sponsorship application, but let's say I was to omit my previous employer and leave a 16 month gap in my work history (this is the amount of time I was at my previous employer plus the amount of time it took my to find a new job), how would it affect my sponsorship application?

They won't contact any of your employers.

But then why do they ask the applicant to fill out the phone numbers? I don't doubt what you're saying, I just want some peace of mind before I go ahead with all of this.

 

[keesio]

From what I understand, they will only contact previous employers if they think you gave false information on your employment information. Otherwise they don't bother.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I said earlier that I intend to provide my actual work history in the sponsorship application, but let's say I was to omit my previous employer and leave a 16 month gap in my work history (this is the amount of time I was at my previous employer plus the amount of time it took my to find a new job), how would it affect my sponsorship application?

But then why do they ask the applicant to fill out the phone numbers? I don't doubt what you're saying, I just want some peace of mind before I go ahead with all of this.

Don't leave it out. That is misrepresentation, fraud. That could result in refusal of the app and a LOT of trouble in getting your partner here.

CIC asks for a lot of information that they don't really use. In my several years on this forum, with thousands of applications, I've never once seen someone report that they had an employer contacted.

 

[ipoo]

I'm a Canadian Citizen and am currently working as a civil engineer right here in Canada. I'm just going through preparing my application, and I've noticed that the application asks for the names and phone numbers of my past and present employers. Will they actually contact each employer by phone? If so, does anyone have any idea as to what they're going to ask them?

The reason I'm concerned is because when I applied for my current job, I had omitted my previous employer from my resume because they had fired me without reason after only six months on the job; I didn't want potential employers contacting them and then throwing out my resume after being told that I was fired. My work history was already spotty at this point and I thought that this omission might help me to improve my chances of finding a job. Although many of you won't condone my course of action, I hope you will at the very least understand why I chose to do this. Now for my sponsorship application, I intend to be truthful and will list my actual work history. If CIC calls my current employer and tells them of my actual work history, there's no telling what my current employer would do.

Just to be clear, I'm not concerned about whether my sponsorship application will go through. What I am concerned about is losing my job if/when CIC tells my current employer about my work actual history. Am I being paranoid here?

Even if CIC Calls the individual employers, but they won't tell any of employers information to them. That's where I believe privacy Act comes in. CIC can call one employer to ask them about your work and pay things, but they(cic) wont tell that employer that this current/ex employe had been fired from another employer.

 

[flx2015]

Even if CIC Calls the individual employers, but they won't tell any of employers information to them. That's where I believe privacy Act comes in. CIC can call one employer to ask them about your work and pay things, but they(cic) wont tell that employer that this current/ex employe had been fired from another employer.

You may have a point there. I just looked up the privacy act and found that employment history does indeed fall under the category of personal information. What if I leave a note in my application asking CIC not to provide my work history to any of my employers? Even if they get curious as to why I left the note, there shouldn't be any problems as the work history I've provided them will be truthful and accurate.

Privacy Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. P-21)
“personal information” means information about an identifiable individual that is recorded in any form including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing,
(b) information relating to the education or the medical, criminal or employment history of the individual or information relating to financial transactions in which the individual has been involved,

 

[canuck_in_uk]

You may have a point there. I just looked up the privacy act and found that employment history does indeed fall under the category of personal information. What if I leave a note in my application asking CIC not to provide my work history to any of my employers? Even if they get curious as to why I left the note, there shouldn't be any problems as the work history I've provided them will be truthful and accurate.

Don't mention it, as that will only draw suspicion. They won't call your employers, so stop worrying about it.

 

[Aquakitty]

There's a lot of personal information that goes into these applications. Can you imagine the ****storm that would occur if there were no privacy protections and CIC started blabbing personal information to all your contacts? :-X You sign all these papers to give them permission to snoop, not to give them permission to blab to others.

If, in the very worst case scenario and smallest possibility they did contact an employer, they'd have no reason whatsoever to discuss with that employer your previous work history with other employers. The reason they would call is to check you actually worked there to make sure you aren't misrepresenting. I assume you'll have more than enough backup info about your job that this won't even be a concern.

 

[Beaverdiva]

I'm no expert, but I would imagine that if CIC chose to contact your current or former employer that it would be a phone call asking them to confirm that you were ever employed with them and to confirm the dates??

I very much doubt that they would get in to a conversation about information you've provided on your application form - if only for their own sake, in terms of the time it would take them to do this for every application.

My hubby couldn't remember (or find on google) the telephone number for a couple of his old employers so he just gave their addresses.

As for providing CIC with inaccurate history... I think you should be honest and include that job history.

I'm guessing that they're mostly looking to see if you've been employed on a regular basis and to get a general idea of your work history???

Good Luck