Job seekers can no longer keep secrets. Information about you is available to prospective employers who conduct pre-employment screening, and it's allowing them to verify almost everything from your birthday to your shoe size before they make you an offer.

In the late 1970s, court rulings that employers were required to hire employers who were both capable and safe increased a business's liability for negligent hiring. Some firms began running criminal background checks on job candidates. When the terrorist attacks of 2001 furthered the need for tighter security, even more companies began conducting rigorous pre-employment screening. Finally, audit standards tightened under Sarbanes-Oxley resulted in increased pre-hiring scrutiny of employees with access to a corporation's financial data.

The result: IT candidates should expect multiple levels of screening before they're hired. The corollary: Providing accurate and timely information will speed up your offer.

Be prepared

Pre-employment screening can include everything from criminal background checks to reviews of driving records and credit history, as well as verifying your previous employment and salary histories. Your selection may be adversely affected by any discrepancies between what you wrote on the application and the information obtained during the verification process.

"Our own stats indicate that 25 to 30 percent of the information supplied on job applications is incorrect," says Greg Dubecky, general manager with Corporate Screening, a background screening company located in Cleveland. "I advise all job applicants to keep a cheat sheet that includes accurate dates of their previous jobs and their salary history. If you're uncertain of something, I usually advise not leaving the application blank, but rather put 'approximate' next to the dates that you provide."

Before embarking on a job search, consider ordering a copy of your credit report, driving record and criminal record so you can clear up any inaccuracies. Always save year-end and final pay stubs from previous jobs, and maintain lists of references who've agreed to take a prospective employer's call. Providing certified copies of your college transcripts might also speed up the hiring process. Remember that if all things are equal, the candidate whose information checks out quickly and accurately may get preference for the job.

Be accurate

"I advise all applicants to be 100 percent honest," says Dubecky. "If you have a criminal record, admit it. You are better off providing a good explanation about what happened because if you lie, you aren't going to get the job."

 Increasingly, large screening companies are developing their own databases built from information received during the records verification process. If you change jobs frequently or work short-term contract gigs, chances are your information is readily available and discrepancies will be discovered. In order not to raise suspicions as to the validity of your information, it's important to be consistent from application to application

Dubecky notes that there's an emerging trend in the ways employers use information from firms like his as part of their IT hiring process. After conducting initial interviews, they're requesting in-depth checks of an applicant's previous work history, which includes verifying exact job titles and duties. Employers compare this information with the candidate's job application, resume and interview responses. Then they develop technical interview questions to further validate the candidate's experience claims.

If you had responsibilities that aren't reflected by your previous job titles, be sure to get a letter of reference from your boss verifying those duties, and be prepared to answer technical questions about any skills you acquired that were outside the scope of your job description.

"Many IT candidates have learned their skills on the job," says Dubecky. "So they’ll indicate that they were a software engineer in their last job, but an in-depth check of the job duties at the previous firm might translate to more of a tech support position. So the prospective employer will validate the applicant's experience through an in-depth technical interview."

Be informed

In most cases, background checks fall under the category of consumer reports and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) protects your rights as a job-seeker. In some cases state laws supersede the federal law, so knowing your state's specific rules is the best way to exercise your rights.

Some pre-employment verifications may be conducted by in-house human resources employees, while screens that include information from public records, such as checks of criminal records or driving history, are frequently outsourced to a screening firm. Only outsourced background checks are governed by the FCRA.

Before a company conducts pre-employment screening, they should notify you in writing and ask you to sign a consent form. Be sure to read everything that you are given to sign, being mindful of the fine print.

If the result of the background investigation causes the company to take adverse action - such as terminating you or rescinding an offer - you're entitled to a copy of the report. In the event that you find inaccuracies in the report, you may dispute it.