Pre Employment Screening – What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You

Using your pre employment screening program, reviewing resumes, telephone interviews, in person interviews, you have narrowed your choices down to two candidates for a management position who are more or less equal in experience, ability, and education.  Now it is time for the background check.

The position requires exposure to cash receipts, customer interaction, driving a personal vehicle on various company business, and access to proprietary company information.  In addition, you have specified that a college degree is preferred for this position.

Based on the requirements you have determined to check the following:

§ Criminal history.  A basic check for all your new hires.
§ A social trace to determine previous addresses for the applicant.
§ Employment Credit Report to determine fiscal responsibility.
§ Employment verifications for the previous five years.
§ Education verification for the highest degree attained.

One of the applicants has provided on the employment application that he has worked two jobs in the past five years.  The first he left for other employment, immediately worked for the second employer from whom he was recently downsized; he has lived in the same location for the past five years, and prior to that at a different address in the same town.  He claims a Master’s Degree in Education from East Podunk State Teacher’s College, a small school in Oregon.
He says he has a misdemeanor arrest for disorderly conduct that was dismissed because it was a case of mistaken identity.

You send your request for background checks over to your background check company, and two days later you learn that your applicant was arrested twice for writing bad checks and received probation for one charge and the other was dismissed.  He was also arrested and convicted for felony credit card fraud for which he is currently on probation.

The social trace reveals that he lived in an adjoining state for a year that he failed to mention.  A criminal background check in that jurisdiction shows an arrest and conviction for misdemeanor battery, resulting in a fine and ten days in jail.

The applicant’s credit report shows that he has two judgments for debt outstanding and most of his other accounts are in collections.  All credit cards are at their limit or above.

A verification of his previous employment indicates that he was terminated from his first job six months before he said he was, and he started the second job six months after he said he did, leaving a one-year gap.  His second employer also states that he is not eligible for rehire.

And finally, good old EPSTC is found to be an online only institution that is not accredited by any organization.  Degrees and diplomas are awarded for a $500 tuition fee and for submitting a short essay stating why a degree should be awarded for life experience.

Now, the applicants don’t look nearly so equal, as the other candidate checked out 100%.

Not all of this is likely to show up on one applicant, but variations of each of these examples have and do show up regularly in pre employment screening of candidates.

Use a comprehensive pre employment screening program including employee background checks to fine the answers to questions your applicant nay have reason not answer truthfully.

To find the answers to pre employment screening questions, call 770-426-0547 or click here.