There are many factors to consider when choosing a potential candidate for a job role and a great many ways that we will generally filter candidates down to find the one that best fits the bill. Generally when we do this though, we will focus on the things that they tell us and on the information presented to us in personal statements and CVs. In other words, we will make our decision based on factors like their personality and their employment history and we will take these matters at face value when given the information.
Unfortunately though, this isn’t always enough and sometimes judging candidates at face value alone can get a company into trouble.
Sometimes employees have things to hide and whether they’re being purposefully dishonest or they just neglect to provide the full details, this can end up causing all manner of problems for the employers.
Introducing: Pre-Employment Background Screening
That’s where pre-employment background screening comes in. This is a process that does what it says on the tin - gathering more information about an individual in order to verify or correct the information they put forward in their CV and to potentially shed light on details that may have been omitted. This way you can ascertain the true identity of that potential employee and flag up any warning signs before it’s too late.
If this sounds a little Orwellian to you, or you’re concerned that it may be an invasion of privacy, then worry no more. This process will be carried out while sticking closely to labor and privacy laws and the information will be acquired by going through official channels and gaining the cooperation of the potential employee themselves.
What Needs to Be Checked
So what does this check provide us with and why? While the details may vary slightly between candidates and between positions, generally the main focus will be: identity, address, education, criminal record, previous employment, credit rating, qualifications and visa. To this end, candidates will often be asked to provide proof of their identity, references, certificates, proof of address and other such documents.
This can then help to avoid various disastrous situations. For instance, such a check could help you to uncover past convictions that may suggest the candidate is unsuitable for a role with children. If a school were to hire a teacher for example, only for it to transpire later that that teacher had a history of abusive behaviour, then this could not only put the children at serious risk but also severely damage the school’s reputation.
Likewise, if you work in an office then a background check could help you to filter out candidates that may have been lying on their CVs. It’s not unheard of for hopeful employees to put experience and qualifications on their CVs that they don’t in fact possess and without a professional check you’d have no way to uncover such behavior. It may even help your company to avoid becoming a victim of industrial espionage!
Attached Images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
Carl J Sevin works for USAintel as a software developer. He is an integral part of their employment screening software project and has used all his experience to make it a big success. Apart from his usual work, he likes to unwind by listening to soothing music at the end of the day.
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