Pre employment screening is not just about conducting formal employee background checks. Pre employment screening is also about how to streamline your hiring process to get the best-qualified and most productive employee each time you hire.

While employee background checks are absolutely essential to the hiring process, and can help you avoid more serious damage done by a thieving or mischievous employee, there are some ways to do a pre employment screening that keeps them away from the applicant pool to begin with.

Most businesses rely on a standard application process. Computer generated and screened applications are common in larger businesses with more resources. Smaller businesses still rely on paper applications, since it is easy to purchase a pack of pre-made ones from the local office supply store.

What if you started streamlining your application process and allowed applicants to give a better look at their capabilities. A recent report told the story of a company hiring a marketing coordinator. In a generic job posting, several hundred applications were received, many of who did not even meet the basic job requirements of experience or education.

When the same job posted with a requirement that a sample of a marketing flyer was included with their application, only twelve candidates applied.

Not every open retail position can have a job posting this specific, but there are ways to incorporate these tests of skill. Ask a potential employee to “sell” you an item, or solve a fictitious customer problem. It can give you a better insight into their skill level and their potential dedication to the job.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

After careful evaluation of the pros and cons, you have decided to conduct pre employment screening on all of your potential employees. To save some money, you decided to forego using a background check company for these employee background checks.

You figured that just about anything can be found by searching the internet with a little bit of digging on your own. That’s what a background check company charges for anyway, isn’t it- their time to dig up information- to surf the web?

Well, there are two missing parts to the puzzle that may cause you some problems. The first concern is how far you are going to go to get these histories and employee background checks– especially if this applicant has moved around at all.

The next concern is what happens if you dig up incorrect information on a potential candidate and subsequently decline a job offer to a candidate based on those findings. You (your company) can be held liable for that information and can be sued by that candidate for slander and other offenses in a court of law. Would you know how to fix that information if the situation came up?

This is the larger part of what you pay a background check company for. They are responsible for the accuracy of the pre employment screening they conduct. If there is a discrepancy, this company has the legal obligation to have it corrected in a timely manner.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

Looking for a new job to build your career can be just as frustrating as it is for employers to find a suitable candidate for their open positions. This is partly due to changes in how both employers and employees approach interviews and hiring in general. Pre employment screening still plays an important part in the process, but is left to be one of the last steps before a candidate is finalized.

There was a recent survey conducted by a popular employment website. It went through many of the pitfalls employers were coming up against in finding new, qualified candidates. The employers interviewed spoke of candidates not showing up for interviews, declining positions after they had accepted them, and some candidates not even showing up for their first day of work with no communication.

Then the survey flipped around to interview the candidates who had actually applied for posted positions. It was surprising to find out that the amount of disconnect from employees communicating with employers, there was a major lack of communication from employers back to the actual employees.

Many employers, who received applications, sent out an automatically generated email stating that the application was under review. That was pretty consistent, it was in additional communication that things started going downhill. Of those received applications, very few were notified by the company that they had not been picked for an interview. Of the ones that had been picked, even fewer candidates were actually notified that they did not receive the job.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

Employee background checks are changing, just as new application and hiring practices are evolving. Many companies have rid themselves of the paper applications of yesteryear, and the ability to speak directly to the manager in charge of the hiring process. As such, applicants are wheedled down to a few generic statements in a standardized on line application.

The auto application eliminates the personal touch given by one on one interaction. Unfortunately, because the computerized applications don’t evaluate personalities, red flags and warning signs about an applicant are often overlooked. Employee background checks are needed to help fill in the blanks.

Since computerized applications request most of the needed information to complete employee background checks, it should be a simple process to have one done. By adding a sign line allowing a request to do pre employment screening, it is easy to get the potential employee’s approval before they are even brought in for an interview.

For businesses that are still using paper applications instead of computerized or online applications, it is easier to do a quick pre employment screening at the time the application is handed in. Even if a manager does not do it, there are simple questions that any employee can ask.

Start with basic questions about the hours the candidate is available to work. Ask why they are leaving their old job, or looking for a second job. Ask if they have experience in the job they are applying for. Follow up with a brief description of the job responsibilities; include some of the less desirable tasks, and ask if they are still interested. Make sure any hesitation is noted on the pre employment screening form.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

For the last few years, many retailers and other businesses have started a new hiring trend. Instead of hiring a balance of full time and part time employees, these companies are hiring more part time employees. Because these companies are looking to make less of an investment in these employees, many of them are hired without pre employment screening.

Hiring part time employees has many benefits for both small businesses and larger companies. It is easier to schedule several part time hours in a day, instead of having full time employees with longer shifts that might overlap in unnecessary times.  With shorter time requirements, it is easier to schedule more employees for a few hours at a time, when they are actually needed.

Part time employees do not need a guarantee of hours, so when business is slow, you can easily decrease your payroll. Many companies also do not offer benefits to part time employees, another huge financial impact.

The downside is that with no hour guarantees, and few to no benefits, many part time employees only do the absolute minimum work necessary to keep their jobs. Because of this lack of engagement, part time employees are also more likely to cause theft issues, or ignore shoplifters.

If pre employment screening and other employee background checks are not completed, the likelihood of part time employees causing losses becomes even greater.

Employee background checks might indicate which part time employees are most likely to be disengaged, and potentially cause losses to your business.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

The Small Business Administration is an organization designed with the specific intention of assisting and guiding small businesses towards better longevity and profitability. They have many programs on a wide range of topics, including pre employment screening and employee background checks.

Employee background checks are highly recommended by the Small Business Administration. They realize that one of the most important factors in a small business’s success is its ability to hire and retain quality employees.

If a small business hires improperly, their chance of success are drastically reduce. A “bad” employee can do unending damage to a business. When customer service is lacking, the company’s image is hurt. Customer’s stop coming in, and word of mouth takes care of any remaining customers who may have contemplated shopping with you.

A step up from bad customer service is bad employee morale. Ever heard the phrase “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch”? It rings very true in retail. An employee that shows up late to work, doesn’t pull their weight, or disregards policy and procedure brings everyone down. Time is spent correcting their actions and playing damage control with the rest of the “good apples”.

These employee infractions can pale in comparison to the damage an employee can do if they are stealing from you. These employees can still turn away customers and fellow employees, in addition to causing financial disaster from cash theft, credit card fraud or inventory theft.

For these reasons, the Small Business Administration strongly encourages pre employment screening and employee background checks to reduce the likelihood of hiring a bad employee.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Criminal background checks should be an essential part of a company’s standard pre employment screening. The results can be a red flag for the company so they can make a better-informed decision about the candidate they want to hire.

Every time my brother applies for a new job, he dreads the part where the potential employer runs criminal background checks. Mostly because he knows that his search results will show up with a laundry list of convictions from crimes committed in various states. The problem is, there is someone else living in a different state that has the same name and date of birth as my brother. This other person is the true owner of the criminal history that shows up on my brother’s criminal background checks.

He first found out about this problem after interviewing for a job and then receiving a rejection letter in the mail from this company. They stated that he did not divulge his record to them on the application, and based on the convictions he was ineligible for hire.

He then had to go through several other steps to prove that the records were not his and he had never even been to the states in which the arrests had happened. The proof came from the information found on his driver’s license such as race, hair and eye color, and the photo. Once matched to the mug shots and the arrest records, my brother was cleared and offered the position.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

I was looking to hire a new Loss Prevention employee for one of my stores. Another manager had a great customer service situation at a competitor and had recommended this particular employee to me. I had them come in and fill out an application before I made any interviewing decisions. Even without a formal criminal background check, I had a concern with this applicant.

On his application, he put down that he had a DUI a few years ago. While I am glad that he admitted to his charge, I was still left with questions about his judgment. Is this someone with a drinking problem, or just had a momentary lapse in judgment? Can I rely on them in a high impact situation, or to have consistency in their day-to-day behaviors? 

I had to wonder if I would find anything else if I ran a criminal background check. In my experience, people will admit to the lowest denominator they think they can get away with. Employees and shoplifters only admit to a fraction of what they actually stole. Other criminals will downplay the number of times they committed a crime. Do they really think that they were caught the very first time they did something wrong? No, they probably had done the action over and over until it was so blatant that they got caught.

I wouldn’t take an admission on a job application as an excuse not to conduct more thorough pre employment screening– especially when it comes to criminal background checks.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

There is an ongoing debate over the legality of using information found on social media as a form of pre employment screening.

For some employees, Social media is an outlet for their personal expressions. In spite of their need to over share personal information or their questionable behaviors, many in the job pool believe that their personal lives should remain private. Any digging into social media sites would therefore constitute a violation of their privacy.

That hasn’t stopped all businesses from cruising the social media sites to see if they can find a potential candidate. With privacy and security controls as they are, it should reasonably fall to the responsibility of a job candidate to keep their sites private and block public viewing.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case as some businesses are finding out through the court system.

That doesn’t mean that there is some validity to information garnered from social media sites. There are sites specifically designed and created for the working individual. These sites give potential employers unofficial background checks that are allowable for hiring purposes. Since the site is to be shared within the professional community, instead of a personal network of friends and family, employers are welcomed more freely to investigate through those networks.

The down side to using these for informal background checks is that the job applicant puts the information on the site. It is at their discretion what is posted and what is omitted. The biased information may not be a reliable form of pre employment screening.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

When you conduct employee background checks, your business can be held liable for the information that you find. In particular, if a potential candidate is declined employment based off of those findings.

If this candidate feels like they were wrongfully declined, they have the option to contest the check, and bring potential litigation against your business if the employee background checks were proven to contain misinformation.

When you hire a background check company, you push this liability back to them. They are now responsible for providing you accurate and timely pre employment screening. If for some reason there is determined to be erroneous information, the liability is with the background check company and not with you.

As a responsible business, obviously you would want to work with both your potential candidate and the background check company to fully resolve the issue. The common goal would then be to correct the errors and move forward before the situation gets to a point where litigation would be necessary.

When you contract with a reputable and experience background check company, this concern should be part of their standard operating procedures. They need to stand behind their work and the pre employment screenings that they generate for you. If for some reason, they will not back their work, or push the liability back to you, you need to go elsewhere.  That should be an enormous red flag that they may not be in the business of providing accurate reports.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547