Small Business Resource

Prospective employees and candidates put their best faces on for you as a potential employer. Just take a look at the impressive resumes and cover letters. Unfortunately, the professionalism of some prospective employees are skin-deep.

A candidate may look good on paper, but it’s very likely he or she is hiding something behind it that could potentially cause harm to you or your company. After all, if you are a financial firm, you would most certainly not want an embezzler or a bank robber working for you. Your first line of defense against such problematic candidates is that of a background check. A background check allows you to view information about a candidate that they may not have been so forthright about, including some of the following:

Criminal/Civil court records – A background check can get you information on any problems with the law a candidate has had. Information such as felonies, misdemeanors, restraining orders, court ordered judgements and whether or not they are registered sex offenders will be made available to you. As previously stated, if the person has recently committed an offense that could cause a problem in your workplace, such as a person hacking conviction applying for an IT position, you should eliminate the candidate from your selection pool post-haste.

Driving record – If you plan to have your candidate driving to different places as a regular part of their job, it’s absolutely neccesary to know about things such as accidents they may have had, as well as speeding tickets or other moving violations that may indicate a negligent driver.

Credit report – With the candidate’s authorization, their credit record can be viewable as well. Look for problems such as collections, frequently late payments or disputes with others. You will also get information on any bankruptcies a candidate may have filed, however by law you are not allowed to discriminate against someone solely because of a bankruptcy.

Military recort – If the candidate has stated that they were in the armed forces, you can find out information such as their rank, assignment and salary. You can also confirm any awards/medals that the candidate claimed to gave earned in the course of their tour of duty.

While all this negative information may be available to you at the click of a button, you should also remember to keep the candidate in mind as well. If they are forthcoming about their past and it looks like they have reformed, you should still give them a chance. If the candidate also includes references of character, such as a parole officer or a mentor, you should give them thought as well.

This guest post is from Allison with BackgroundCheck.org, where you can go to learn more about the background check process.