Employee Background Checks-4 WC Blog 397
Background Check Company-4
Take A Closer Look At A Prospective Employee Before Hiring Them By Using An Employee Background Check Company
When hiring for a position opening it can be extremely time consuming reading through all of the applications, cover letters and resumes you are sent, especially if your job ad is getting a great response. If there are a lot of applications it can be easy to overlook little things that could cause concern about an applicant. Not long ago I was part of a hiring search committee for six positions to fill. Combined the applications we received numbered around 30 or so with some of those applications being duplicates for more than one position. This still left us with at least 25 applications and the attached documents to go through. Some of the applications were easy to dismiss because the applicant did not meet the minimum required qualifications. On the other hand quite a few were very qualified on paper. One of those applicants seemed to meet our minimum job qualifications and initially I was considering requesting our committee interview him and then I looked a little closer at the application the candidate had submitted. I was glad I caught the issues as soon as I did and I will go into that in a little more detail but fortunately for us, had we overlooked these concerns and interviewed the applicant, even if we liked him our company does employee background checks and would have identified the problems and prevented hiring a potentially problem employee.
What is a background check company and how do employee background checks work? A background check company is one that has professional staff that possesses the ability and resources to look into a person’s history. They have access to public information that while available may be hard to gain access to for those of us not familiar with where to go or how to request such information. A background check company can also do the legwork of contacting references for an employer. This can be a frustrating task when you do it yourself. I have run into references who are no longer employed where they were listed as working. I have also had wrong phone numbers listed or the reference had changed their phone number. A background check can include social security verification, credit history, driving records, confirm past addresses and more. All of these are details that may reveal if an applicant is hiding something from you. You might be able to find out some of these details but the time it would take you to do so could be prohibitive. There are also legal aspects you have to take into consideration and failing to do so could land you in hot water.
Back to the candidate I was referencing above. On paper this fella looked pretty good and I was thinking he should be granted an interview until I looked a little closer at his application. He had left two jobs within a year’s time but his explanation was that he had been laid off from both. A plausible reason and I might have overlooked it but then I noticed he had about a 6 year gap in employment history. He then worked in another state for a couple of years and left because the business he worked for closed, according to his application. He was now in my state working as a cashier for a chain store. A big difference in the type of employment of his first job. There were big red “STOP” signs all over this application as I started to think about the gaps and types of work. Had we proceeded with the interview and made him our top choice I am reasonably certain we would have passed over him. If we had not I feel employee background checks by our company would have caught some fishy information.
Smaller retailers usually do not have a human resources department to conduct employee background checks. The owners and managers also do not need to spend all of their time and resources trying to follow up on candidates. Let Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. be your background check company and help ensure you are hiring the best talent possible.
Employee Background Checks are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
When hiring for a position opening it can be extremely time consuming reading through all of the applications, cover letters and resumes you are sent, especially if your job ad is getting a great response. If there are a lot of applications it can be easy to overlook little things that could cause concern about an applicant. Not long ago I was part of a hiring search committee for six positions to fill. Combined the applications we received numbered around 30 or so with some of those applications being duplicates for more than one position. This still left us with at least 25 applications and the attached documents to go through. Some of the applications were easy to dismiss because the applicant did not meet the minimum required qualifications. On the other hand quite a few were very qualified on paper. One of those applicants seemed to meet our minimum job qualifications and initially I was considering requesting our committee interview him and then I looked a little closer at the application the candidate had submitted. I was glad I caught the issues as soon as I did and I will go into that in a little more detail but fortunately for us, had we overlooked these concerns and interviewed the applicant, even if we liked him our company does employee background checks and would have identified the problems and prevented hiring a potentially problem employee.
What is a background check company and how do employee background checks work? A background check company is one that has professional staff that possesses the ability and resources to look into a person’s history. They have access to public information that while available may be hard to gain access to for those of us not familiar with where to go or how to request such information. A background check company can also do the legwork of contacting references for an employer. This can be a frustrating task when you do it yourself. I have run into references who are no longer employed where they were listed as working. I have also had wrong phone numbers listed or the reference had changed their phone number. A background check can include social security verification, credit history, driving records, confirm past addresses and more. All of these are details that may reveal if an applicant is hiding something from you. You might be able to find out some of these details but the time it would take you to do so could be prohibitive. There are also legal aspects you have to take into consideration and failing to do so could land you in hot water.
Back to the candidate I was referencing above. On paper this fella looked pretty good and I was thinking he should be granted an interview until I looked a little closer at his application. He had left two jobs within a year’s time but his explanation was that he had been laid off from both. A plausible reason and I might have overlooked it but then I noticed he had about a 6 year gap in employment history. He then worked in another state for a couple of years and left because the business he worked for closed, according to his application. He was now in my state working as a cashier for a chain store. A big difference in the type of employment of his first job. There were big red “STOP” signs all over this application as I started to think about the gaps and types of work. Had we proceeded with the interview and made him our top choice I am reasonably certain we would have passed over him. If we had not I feel employee background checks by our company would have caught some fishy information.
Smaller retailers usually do not have a human resources department to conduct employee background checks. The owners and managers also do not need to spend all of their time and resources trying to follow up on candidates. Let Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. be your background check company and help ensure you are hiring the best talent possible.
Employee Background Checks are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
