Thousands seek child care background checks under new Oklahoma law

In the three months since the mandated child care employment background check law became effective, nearly 4,100 requests have been processed by Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ Oklahoma Child Care Services division.

With the law becoming effective Nov. 1, 2008, the newly formed OCCS Licensing Records Office (LRO) reviewed 4,091 requests for background checks for individuals seeking employment or licensure in Oklahoma’s nearly 5,000 child care facilities. In the 4,091 reviews, 93 applicants did not meet state requirements to work in a child care facility or to be issued a license because of persons living in a home where care would potentially be provided.

Child care facilities must submit an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation criminal background check, along with other documentation for review. The LRO conducts additional searches and returns the results of the reviews to the facilities for appropriate actions. The law stipulates a child care provider must receive the response prior to employing a person or allowing a person to reside in the residential facility where care is provided.

With more than 25,000 people employed in Oklahoma’s Child Care industry, the demand for the requirement has been difficult for the LRO to meet. In addition to those seeking employment or licensure, all adults who reside in a child care home are required to submit a request for a background check.

“We have a responsibility to meet any and all mandates placed into law by the Oklahoma Legislature to protect the children of our state,” said Janice Matthews, OCCS state licensing coordinator.

While the new law has merit, it has not been implemented without challenges. The new law went into effect in Nov. 1, 2008 as an unfunded mandate requiring significant staff time to operate. There have been as many as eight employees working on completing the reviews with a self-imposed turnaround of 24 hours. The LRO is currently staffed full-time by four persons; two were transferred from field duties and two are retired licensing professionals working under contract through a temporary service company.

“We ask the industry’s patience during this transition. The people we have assigned are working at full capacity and, under the circumstances, are doing an outstanding job”, said Matthews. Oklahoma currently has 106 Child Care Licensing Specialists monitoring the state’s 5,000 child care facilities, down from 114 professionals doing this work 18 months ago.

Salary Insights For Job Seekers

PayScale, Inc. has announced the launch of a new career management platform where employees and job seekers will have access to an array of salary insight and career management tools in one place.

As the economy maintains its uncertain footing, the total workforce - including the employed and the recently laid off - are seeking real-time salary information that keeps step with the market, professional development opportunities, job alternatives, and career planning tools. PayScale's new personalized career management platform provides users insight into their career options in one easy-to-access location.

"PayScale provides employees and job seekers with an easy-to-use suite of tools to understand their place in the job market and inform their career decisions," said Joe Giordano, Founder, PayScale, Inc. "We have leveraged our extensive dataset of over 16 million career profiles in conjunction with advanced statistical modeling to provide fresh insight into the job market and potential career options available to workers across the world. This type of information is more relevant now than ever before, as the challenging business climate and recession persist."

Tools in the new PayScale career management platform include:

• Real-time Salary and Benefits: See how your compensation compares to your peers.
• Job Opportunities: Browse job opportunities matched to your position, location and your industry.
• Educational Opportunities: Is more education worth more in your profession?
• Cost of Living Calculator: Find out if working in another city would improve your standard of living.
• GigZig: Glimpse future career paths and their corresponding salaries
• Company Data: See top jobs and typical pay for a current or future employer
• Advice: Read helpful career advice from people like you.
• Anonymous Profiles: See career details about people like you.

Outsourced HR Consulting Helps Recruiting Efforts

Orion Recruiting, a financial industry recruiting firm based in Chicago, has announced a new practice area called Orion Consulting Services. The new offerings provide a range of Human Resource services for Orion's financial and trading clients - from the outsourcing of an entire human resource department to the writing of job descriptions, competitive salary analysis, evaluation of the firm's environment, and even the option to have a recruiter working on site throughout the duration of a particular candidate search.

By expanding its service set to include HR-based consulting, Orion presents a revolutionary type of recruiting that goes beyond simply searching for talent. Andrea Persico, President of Orion Recruiting, states, "We recognize the fact that a great many of our clients don't require full-time Human Resources staff - Orion's new practice area allows those types of firms to utilize our professional, high-quality services on an as-needed basis. We believe the industry has required this for quite some time."

Another facet of this practice area focuses on Orion's ability to setup, from start to finish, a firm's foray into the world of college & campus recruiting.

"Many of the financial firms are looking for top talent right out of school. However, to be effective at this type of recruiting, there's a great deal of planning, marketing and tactical execution that's required to ultimately be successful. This is where we come in - leveraging our specialized industry experience in the campus arena to get our clients high-quality hires. At the end of the day, most firms simply want to focus on trading, yet not neglect the other areas of their business. We feel our outsourced college-recruiting service will go a long way towards helping companies achieve those goals," Persico said.

A Polygraph Is Not A Career Test

Sometimes, employers will ask candidates to take a personality test, such as the Myers-Briggs, to see how they will best work in a team of current employees. Are you an introvert in a team of extroverts? Balance is a good thing. Career testing is often a helpful adjunct step beyond the job interview.

Rarely, however, will employers use a polygraph test for pre-employment screening. In fact, the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) customarily prevents employers from using polygraph, also called lie detector tests, either for pre-employment screening or during the course of employment.

While there may be certain extreme exemptions, employers generally may not require a lie detector test, nor can they discharge, discipline, or discriminate against an employee or job applicant for refusing to take a test or for exercising other rights under the Act, which was brought forth in 1988. In addition, employers are required to display the EPPA poster in the workplace for their employees.

Seeking an Internship?

Internships are in high demand among college students and graduates. Whether it is spoken or not, having an internship is seen as a necessity. An internship, even if it’s just for a summer, is well worth it, for merely the experience alone. There are some great Web sites out there to help in the searching process.

Internships are thought of as a good stepping stone into the professional work place, if not into a career. In a 2006 New York Times article, "Internships have displaced casual hourly jobs as the more typical summer experience for college students — one that may provide valuable professional contacts or even lead to full-time employment after graduation”.

As a perspective intern, it is important to know major companies to intern with and the number of positions they offer. Experience.com and Vault.com are both internship Web sites that post a list of the top internship companies throughout the United States.

This world has become rather competitive. The same New York Times article stated, “In a survey by Vault.com, which tracks student employment trends, 62 percent of college students planned to do an internship this summer, up from 41 percent two years ago."

Here are some great tips to finding a great internship. First, always plan ahead. It is important to make a resume to show off your skills, and keep adding to it. According to internjobs.com, begin looking for a summer internship around February, a fall internship around August and a spring internship in October.

Second, be familiar with the company you are interviewing with. It will impress a potential employer by demonstrating your interest and knowledge of the company’s affiliations, products, news, etc.

Finally, NETWORK! Staying connected with people from school, work and friends to see what job possibilities are available is key. Today, it’s about the people you know. Also, make sure you know exactly who you will be directing your resume to.

Follow these steps for the right path to an internship.