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How long does a background check take?
That depends on the components ordered and what type of check you are doing. For employment purposes a background check can take anywhere from 24 hours to 1 week. Our company generally gets a background check request back to the client within 48 to 72 hours. That would include a criminal record check, motor vehicle report, employment verification, and education verification.
Hi Folks!
I initially started writing the article below to make into an e-book. Well as things progressed and I started getting more and more in-depth, I thought it might be a good article for my blog. As you may or may not know I work for an employment screening company and they have given me their blessing to go ahead and publish articles that discuss how to conduct free background checks. Read more…
The vast number of individuals participating in social networking has surpassed the hundred million mark. The appeal of these sites, such as MySpace.com, Facebook.com and others, is the availability of searchable profile data they contain, such as past employment, affiliations, schools, hobbies, interests, pictures, and personal web log entries.<!–more–>
A growing number of employers are searching social networking sites as part of their pre-employment screening process. According to a CareerBuilder.com 2006 survey of over 1,000 hiring managers, 12% used social networking sites to verify information about a job candidate. While many managers found these sites useful in confirming a hiring decision, 63% reported not hiring a candidate based on what they found.
The implication is a hotly debated issue among hiring managers, especially when it comes to information found on these personal sites not posted there by the candidate. Examples being: comments posted from teens venting their frustration about a parent or from a disgruntled co-worker with an ax to grind. Although there is no body of case law concerning the regulations and use of content from social networking sites, when placed in the context of FCRA compliance, hiring managers are required to use reliable and verifiable methods and data sources. Because content on social network sites is public, many hiring managers argue that these sites fall within the guidelines, especially when the site is created and managed by the applicant. The argument becomes critical when it comes to protecting an organization from negligent hiring suits. Due diligence requirements almost make it impossible to ignore information found on a job applicants’ social network site. The question becomes, should that information be accessed at all?
In the upcoming years, the debate over the uses of social networking sites in pre-employment screening will define if they have a place in the hiring process. The critical issue for many organizations now is how to use data found on social sites. Key findings from the CareerBuilder.com survey offered these tips in evaluating a candidate based on their social network site:
1. Does the candidate’s background/profile information support the professional qualifications submitted with the application/resume?
2. Is the candidate well rounded? Shows a wide range of interest?
3. Do the candidate’s posts demonstrate great communications skills?
4. Does the candidate’s site convey a professional image?
5. Does the candidate’s personality fit the organization?
6. Have others posted recommendations and positive appraisal of the candidate?
Warning signs include the following:
1. Is the candidate linked to criminal behavior?
2. Has the candidate posted negative comments about previous employers or co-workers?
3. Has the candidate posted information about drug and/or alcohol use?
4. Has the candidate posted confidential information from a previous employer?
Ultimately, searching social network sites as part of a screening process should just be one of the many tools an organizations uses. As with simple background checks, you will find that not all relevant information is accessible. It remains to be seen if social networking sites will garner enough support to become viable tools in the pre-employment screening industry.
57% of hiring managers say they have caught a lie on a candidate’s application, according to an online survey.
What is the top lie when prospective employees are applying for a job? <!–more–>
It is usually stretching dates of employment to cover up employment gaps! One in five hiring managers have discovered this problem in the past. Some of the other areas that candidates have lied about include, Past employers (18 percent), Academic degrees and institutions (16 percent), Technical skills and certifications (15 percent), Accomplishments (8 percent).
Of the managers that were asked 93% of them stated that they did not hire the applicant once they found out they had lied!
In many of my recent articles I have been explaining how to conduct your own background checks for free. I have received more than a few emails from people in the employment screening and investigative industry concerned that I was giving away too much information and that people may not need to use our (employment screening) services if they can just go and do their own background checks. I look at it like this. If someone wants to conduct their own background checks, fine let them. The Internet is all about the free exchange of ideas.
Yes, I am a capitalist along with millions of others in The United States. The company I work for is an expert in the background check industry. We have been doing this for years and years. We have great clients, I don’t think they are going anywhere soon. We provide a great product at a great price. I truly have faith that once someone tries our services and sees how hassle free it is they will pay the little bit extra and get a professionally done background check that is not only FCRA compliant but lowers there liability.
In our last installment we discussed how to obtain motor vehicle records. Today I will discuss how to verify someones employment. Just so you know this is not a way to find out where someone is employed that is another can of worms completely. We will discuss how to determine if someone worked at a particular company and if they have a good work record.
First of all you will need a signed release to do these checks. If you are doing a background check on a prospective employees then the FCRA still applies as well as your state and local laws.
If the person you are doing the check on has filled out an application or has sent you a resume’ then you will have to look in the section that lists their previous employment. Most times they will list the address, phone number and their supervisor. You will want to call the company and try to get a hold of the supervisor. This way you can talk to the person that was directly responsible for that persons work.
A typical call may go something like this:
ABC Company: Hello ABC Company may I help you?
You: Yes may I speak to John Smith in the widget department?
ABC: One moment please.
ABC: Hi this is John Smith how may I help you?
You: Yes John, my name is Harry Mann, I have a gentleman by the name of (whatever the subjects name is) and he is applying for a job with us. He listed you as a contact for his previous employment. Is it ok if I ask you a couple of questions?
ABC: Sure go ahead!
You: (Subjects name) says that he was a widget wrangler with your company is that true?
ABC: Why yes it is!
You: He also states that you were his supervisor?
ABC: Yes, yes I was!
You: Was he a good worker for you then?
ABC: Yep, he was pretty good.
You: Pretty good? Were there any problems?
ABC: No not really.
You: Was he ever late?
ABC: Yes sometimes he was.
You: Well, I know how that goes. I had a guy that was always late and he smelled too.
ABC: Oh yeah, well let me tell you about (subject).
Now all calls may not go like that, but my point is once you start talking to these people be a little personable. It will get you far more information.
Some companies are huge and you will never get through to the supervisor or they may have a policy that they do not give out any information. Almost always though you can at least get dates of employment, salary and if they eligible for re-hire.
If you are willing to spend a little money you can use a service called The Work Number. They have an automated system that can verify someones previous employment. It’s a pretty nifty little tool. If you have any questions that I left unanswered feel free to leave them in the comments section. I will try and answer as many as I can.
In our next article I will cover the basics of verifying someones education. Hope to see you then!
Kroll Risk Consulting has released it’s “hit ratio” report and trends seem to be pointing upward when finding discrepancies in employment screening. For instance criminal record hits are up from 8.5% to 9.1% from last year. Is it because more people are committing crimes? That could be part of it. It could also be that from year to year better and more information becomes available. It also seems that driving record and employment verification hits are up as well. Nearly 50% of all applicants had at least one discrepancy on their previous employment list. This just goes to show you can never be too careful.
The following is an article written by Ted Moss of Crimcheck.com
Crimcheck.com™ is FCRA Certified by CDIA
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