I notice that a 10 year work history is required for new hires. I have kind of a splotchy history, since I tried different careers here and there. Sometimes i would leave a company then they would re-hire me later. And my last few jobs, I was supposed to be considered a sub-contractor (as an artist), but I never recieved ANY kind of paperwork from them. Many of these businesses no longer exsist.. SO, my question is how do I document these jobs if the companies no longer exsist? Do i have to detail down to the dates, since it was so long ago, I really dont remember the order and dates of my employment? Can I give a rough estimate of my dates or will a background check possibly conflict and cause me trouble?

I am not a young punk anymore and I really am trying to make the proper steps to getting my life on track.....I am confident I will do well in the trucking industry, but I am overwhelmed with the application process and what a shambles my past work history looks on paper. Thank you for any input!!

Take the time and do the homework then. Write them all down, get as close to the dates as you can, then begin calling the companies and asking them to verify your dates. The more you look like you know where you've been, the better off you'll be. If you throw out a bunch of companies, jobs, and dates that aren't even close, a recruiter isn't going to give your application much consideration, if any.

If by chance you used a CPA or Tax company to figure out your taxes over the years, have him/her/them send you a signed document stating that you indeed worked for ABC as well as XYZ for such-and-such dates.

That did the trick for me.

BTW: Be sure and save the original just in case you need it again. :wink:

Thank you...as far as contacting the businesses to verify, as I said many are no longer in existense..so then what would they like to see? And as far as havin tax records...well i was in my 20's, record keepin was not really done, and many of these jobs were "under the table". Now I know that isn't good, but at the time these businesses took advantage of that and now I'm left havin to figure it all out. The more recent jobs I was told I was a sub-contractor, but never recieved any type of paper work, hell, i never even filled out an application (now they are out of business). Thanx again for any suggestions.

If you were working for different people as a "sub contractor" then you ought to be able to say you were self-employed for those periods. Being self-employed is legitimate. You just have to sign an affidavit attesting to that fact.

They will probably hire an investigator to do a thorough background check on you. You might get in the door with a casual glance at the story you're telling, but if that investigation turns up anything you got wrong, or anything you intentionally tried to hide, chances are you're out of luck. I just went through this myself quite recently, and they dug up all kinds of little piffling crap on me, like a ticket I got for an expired state inspection sticker on my fourwheeler back in the '90s.

If you're really serious about getting all your ducks in a row, you might consider paying someone to do one of these checks on you for yourself, and then you can make sure the story you tell on your application matches what the investigator the company hires will dig up on you.

Thanks....nothin to hide really, I did get alotta tickets back in the 90's. I built Lowriders and they seemed to attract tickets...I stopped drivin em and whataya know..the tickets stopped. Back to the point tho, where would I go to get a check on myself, to see what pops up still and what doesnt?? What exactly are they looking for? I never been to Afghanistan or anything wierd, but I would be upset to lose my job (and school money) over getting the date wrong about a job I worked 9 years ago. I figured I might catch a recruiter on here, that would know exactly what I need to have. Who could I talk to to resolve these issues BEFORE I go to orientation?

The 10 year work history is for trucking ( ie last 10 years of driving truck )
If you didn't drive trucks I think they only need the last 3 to 5 years.

we will ask for a 10 year history as far as driving jobs go. But as far as anything that matters, it would only be the last 3 years. Any job that you had in the last 3 years that cant be verified would be counted as unemployment. And they would have to be really verified through something like tax records or pay stubs. Having us call some guy who just says you worked there doesnt work. For us as long as you dont have more than 12 months unverifiable or unemployment in the last three years you would be fine.