“You’re Hired”: The Benefits of Pre-employment Screening

by Pamela S

The man sitting across the desk from you is wearing a well pressed suit. His body language expresses confidence and he talks the talk. His resume is a two page work of art. You’ve found the perfect candidate. There is just one problem…

There is that one year gap in his employment. He says he had to move out of state to care for his dying mother. What he isn’t telling you, is that his mother died ten years ago. A pre-employment screening will show that he spent that year in prison.

Pre-employment screening is the process of investigating or vetting a prospective employee. There are different levels of screening, depending on your needs. A pre-employment screening may include the following:

• Employment References
• Education Verification
• Criminal History
• Credit History
• Identity and address verification
• Character References
• Social Security Number verification
• Professional license verification and standing in professional organizations

Other searches can include:

• Litigation searches
• Driver’s licence verification and driving record
• Workers’ compensation claims
• Bankruptcies, liens and other financial background checks
• Drug screening

A signed release is obtained from the job candidate allowing the investigation agency to conduct these searches.

Hire the wrong person and you end up with someone who thinks that they are working at Dunder Mifflin. Your employee may be a slacker and a clown like the people in the TV Show, “The Office”, or much worse.

Your new hire can lie, steal, ruin the reputation of your company, or cause legal problems. In the very worst case scenario, your employee can be dangerous.

You need to make an informed hiring decision and feel confident in entrusting this individual with confidential information. If your employee has access to personal files such as your client’s banking and credit card accounts, or is in a position of trust with vulnerable people or children, a pre-employment screening is even more crucial.

In Florida, The Florida House Bill H0775 was passed in 1999, which protects employers from negligent hiring liability, if they conduct certain background checks.

According to Steven D. Levitt, the coauthor of Freakonomics and a highly regarded University of Chicago economics professor, over 50 percent of people lie on their resume. Average law abiding people think nothing of inflating their education history on a resume, especially during these tough economic times when jobs are scarce.

Don’t be impressed by a resume because it appears professional. There are hundreds of companies online that will prepare a cover letter and resume.

Why should you use a private investigation agency to conduct your pre-employment screening?

The demand for pre-employment screening has led to a glut of online pre-employment background companies. Most do not have the resources, capabilities or knowledge to conduct an in-depth background check. We are in the business of investigations and you get what you pay for.

Many online companies charge a lesser fee, but misrepresent the kind of background information that they are able to obtain.

For example, online screening companies claim they conduct a nationwide criminal or civil records check. In the United States there are no national databases available to the public. Records must be searched by county. It is not possible to conduct a county by county search when a company is charging you under $50 for a complete background. If you base your hiring decision on an incomplete or erroneous background, you are setting yourself up.

Many of these online companies pull records from free inmate or sexual offender registries. This information may not be verified. The only nationwide criminal registry in the US is The N.C.I.C. (National Criminal Information Center), used by law enforcement and other criminal justice organizations.

This article first appeared on Sheer Investigations