Importance of Background Checks
What is the importance of employee background checks?
When a company is looking to hire new candidates, you must check their background before hiring; especially when it comes to a position of trust. After all, it is necessary to check that all the data provided by the candidate is real. In this blog, we will talk more about the importance of background checks.
Why check candidates' backgrounds?
A personnel selection process, contrary to what many may think, does not end in the job interview. Usually, after these initial evaluations, the company in charge of carrying out the selection process decides on a list of candidates who will be the ones that the final client ends up interviewing.
What's happening today is that many recruiting companies are skipping a very important stage or leaving it for the end thinking they already have the chosen applicant. This stage is the verification stage where the recruiter collects information from different aspects in the life of the applicant, to corroborate that he has had the expected performance and is the ideal person you are looking for.
The people who will work in your company must be trustworthy. For this reason, you must check that the information provided in their resume or CV is accurate. There are many ways of doing this.
Checking the work history of your employee is necessary because it is one of the important ways that help to guarantee they have the necessary experience to fill the position. This also helps verify the integrity of the potential employee.
In the case of financial positions, you may also be interested in checking the credit history of your candidates. If you do not have the authorization to access this information, you must request it from the candidate who has the right not to provide it if they do not wish to do so. In that case, the company also has the right not to continue the process with said candidate.
Personal and work history that you must verify in hiring:
One of the most important stages of a selection process for new employees is the verification of the personal and employment data of the applicants. These include references from previous employers, but also more specific information, such as their criminal record.
Despite the importance of this data, many companies tend to leave this step for last, when they have already decided on a candidate. And when inconsistencies are found, or doubts arise about the veracity of some information, the process can be complicated and delayed.
That is why it is important to carry out a background check before conducting the final interview of the applicants. And these are the ones that you must confirm yes or no.
Studies:
If the candidate includes university degrees, postgraduate studies (such as diplomas), and master's degrees in his or her resume, it is always a good idea to accompany this information with the corresponding diplomas and certificates of study.
Places of residence:
Knowing with certainty the places where a candidate has lived is very useful to confirm other information, such as id verification and what counties and states need to be included on the background check.
Criminal record:
Finally, it must be confirmed that the candidate has not committed any crime, both at the federal and state levels. Especially when it comes to positions of trust or related to security or confidentiality issues.
Not all selection processes require all of these background checks. The need, depending on the nature of the position and the organization, is what determines what type of verifications is to be carried out.
If you notice any discrepancy between what is said in the resume or CV and the verified information, it is better to continue evaluating other candidates to uphold the integrity of your company.
Now that you know more about the importance of background checks on candidates, we recommend that, if you do not have the time or the trained personnel to take on this task, you delegate it to a company like ours.
At Clear Investigative Advantage, we can take care of not only validating the background of your candidates, but providing a sense of reassurance that you have found the right match for your company's environment. Contact us for more information!
