Optimal Ways to Conduct a Background Check for Your Company

Background checks are necessary to find the right candidate for a position. As an employer, you want to ensure you're hiring someone who won't bring negative baggage into the workplace. There are different ways to conduct a background check.

However, when you conduct a background check, you're not only looking for past offenses but also for anything that may cast doubt on the candidate's current fitness to work. This cannot be easy, especially if you have little time or experience conducting background checks.  

Background checks are a way to ensure that employees and contractors are safe to work with. They are often used to verify the individual's employment history, criminal background, and other information. 

They are an essential tool for companies in their arsenal to increase safety and security for their employees and assets, but they can be time-consuming and costly. Companies often struggle to find the most efficient and cost-effective ways to conduct background checks.  

This article will provide tips on the most effective ways to conduct a background check for your company and some alternative methods that may be more cost-effective and less time-consuming.  

Ways to Perform an Employee Background Check

The process of employee background checks can be split into different ways to ensure you choose the right employees for your company. And further, in the article, we will go deep into the benefits of business background checks.  

1. Records of Criminal Courts

Criminal record checks are frequently a part of employee background checks to see if the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime that would prevent him from performing specific jobs.

For instance, a conviction for theft disqualifies a candidate from jobs involving money handling; a conviction for sex offenses disqualifies a candidate from jobs requiring contact with children.  

A criminal background check may be necessary for some jobs in some states, such as hiring a public school employee in Minnesota. However, some states have restrictions on criminal background checks, such as California, which forbids reporting convictions older than seven years. There must be several ways to conduct a background check regarding criminal records.

Recommended Read: Guide To Employee Referral Programs  

2. Verification of Social Security

You can tell if a candidate is telling the truth about who they are and whether they are authorized to work in the country by looking up their Social Security Number (SSN). The Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration provides access to social security records.  

3. History of Employment  

On their resumes, some people list fictitious employment histories. Employers frequently come across fabrications enhancing job duties. The skill set, employment dates, previous employers, job titles, and roles are some other frequent exaggerations. HR experts should make contact with prior employers to confirm: 

• Employment dates 
• Work title(s) 
• Duties were carried out 
• Separation circumstances  

4. Review of the Past Addresses

Finding out where a candidate has resided will make it simpler to verify other research and could indicate places where criminal background checks ought to be carried out.  

A candidate's current residence may be verified by checking with the present landlord or property manager. Sometimes, background checks are performed on-site by the HR professional.  

This may be an excellent opportunity to conduct the background check in person, allowing you to understand the person and their background. Contacting previous landlords and property managers may also be worth verifying the information.  

5. Credit Checks

A candidate's entire credit history, including payment history, civil judgments, tax liens, bankruptcies, unpaid bills in collections, and recent credit inquiries, is displayed in an employment credit report (but not the candidate's credit score).  

It might be necessary to review credit history for some jobs, and it might be especially crucial for roles where having access to financial resources and making financial decisions are vital duties.  

6. Bankruptcy Filings

In the course of a background investigation for new hires, bankruptcy filings are a common source of public information.  

The public access to the electronic court records (PACER) database, which the federal courts maintain, can be used to find these records directly from the court and through commercial, public record aggregators. 

Therefore, a potential employer can use these records to determine how financially stable a candidate is. According to the FCRA, a background check on an employee is not allowed to include bankruptcy filings older than ten years. 

Checking bankruptcy files, criminal records, and credits are all the ways to conduct a background check every company must include.

What is the Red flag in a Background Check?

Although nobody is perfect, factual errors will make hiring managers pass over a candidate. Red flags can vary depending on the company and the position, but the most frequent ones are criminal histories, inconsistencies, and disparaging remarks.  

Benefits of Business Background Checks 

A background check is a way to uncover a potential candidate's previous convictions and behavior. It can also help with the hiring process by screening out applicants who may have been convicted of a crime in the past or have a history of illegal drug use. 

Lets us take a look at some of the benefits of background checks!  

1. Background Checks Raise the Caliber of Job Applications

The number of top-notch job applications will eventually rise due to checking prospective employees' backgrounds.  

Many businesses have claimed that after beginning routine background checks, they saw an immediate improvement in job applications. A thorough pre-employment background check results in: 

• Less inconsistency and false information in job applications. 
• Application from those trying to conceal serious problems is discouraged. 
• More people are encouraged to apply if they're looking for a secure workplace. 
• The applicant pool quality significantly improves, allowing employers to choose from a wider pool of qualified candidates.  

2. Background Investigations May Lessen Workplace Violence

According to a US Department of Justice study, over 1.7 million workdays are lost yearly due to workplace violence. Without accounting for costs like legal fees, lost productivity, problems with one's public image, etc., this translates to lost wages of more than $50 million per year.  

All employers have a moral and legal obligation to create a secure work environment for their staff.

Also Read: The Best Aspects Of Work-Life Balance

3. Background Checks Shield Businesses From Liability for Careless Hiring and Retention 

Through lawsuits for negligent hiring and retention liability, employers may be held liable for knowing or not knowing specific information about their employees. In other words, businesses may be held responsible for certain types of public misbehavior committed by their employees.  

Companies must also be aware of a job applicant's involvement in or before criminal activity because they have a moral and legal duty to ensure a safe working environment for all employees.  

Therefore, background checks are the best tool for helping employers determine whether a potential employee is qualified.

Background checks are the very first thing a business should conduct to make the most of its upcoming employees. But if you want your company's background checks to be higher, then you need assistance from Professional services background checks.

Enhance Your Company's Background Checks With Pitch N Hire! 

Hiring candidates and, more importantly, having a detailed background check go smoothly can become overwhelming. It can cost you a lot of money and time to go through this background check process, while on the other side, professionals are waiting for such orders to be completed, such as Pitch N Hire!  

Pitch N Hire is an AI-powered talent acquisition that makes your candidate hiring much more flexible, reliable, fast, and easy! It possesses different ways to conduct a background check which approaches a rigid guarantee for bringing in a potential candidate.  

This automation tool makes verification and checks much faster, where you don't have to wait millennia for results! These checks are not only fast but also very accurate so that you can entirely rely on Pitch N Hire. It offers the experience that you deserve in a cost-efficient way.  

The Services of Pitch N Hire 

1. Job Pipelines 

Detailed analysis of your candidates' progress through the interview process.  

2. Testing Before Screening 

Interview only the candidates who stand out after screening the applicant pool.  

3. Reporting And Analytics 

Create an accurate, personalized report with just one click.  

4. Advertise Jobs 

From a single dashboard, post jobs across multiple sites. Least effort and greatest reach.  

5. Recruiting & Career Portals  

Make a bold statement on the career page. Through referral programs, create opportunities and discover talents.  

6. Scheduling & Email 

Save time and money by letting us handle the scheduling automation.  

7. Management of Candidates 

You can access the appropriate metrics, filters, and tools to identify the best candidates.

So, you don't have to worry anymore as the professional services for a background check is behind your company! Making the best move for your company is just a few clicks away, so visit Pitch N Hire now!  

Conclusion 

So, these were the ways to conduct a background check and the process of an employee background check. With this information in your hand, you know exactly what to do. Performing background checks with as much depth can impact significantly on your business and, in fact, boost it up.  

Even if you don't have much experience in this field, you can look for professional services who expertise themselves in this. Pitch N Hire can be the best option you can make before making any decisions.  

In this article, we have discussed,  

1. The red flag in a background check 
2. Professional services for a background check 
3. Ways to perform an employee background check 
4. Benefits of business background checks 
5. Process of employee background check

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Q1. What is One of the Best Ways to Conduct a Background Check? 

Using a professional service for a background check is the simplest option. Numerous background investigation companies are available online.  

Q2. What Method of Background Investigation do Most Employers Use?

They search criminal histories. The common method for criminal background checks are: 

1. National Criminal Database Searches  
2. Search the Federal Criminal Database  

Q3. What is a Manual Background Check?

Information on felonies and misdemeanours can be found using a manual search that spans seven years.

Also Read: Ways To Sell Executive Recruitment