A lot of work goes into finding the right employee. However, all that hard work goes to waste if you fail to conduct an employment background check.
When hiring the most qualified candidates for your company, you have to ensure your hiring process is top-notch. How do you do this, you ask? By simply making it more thorough and reliable. The screening process should reveal all the information necessary to single out the best person for the job. Therefore, what should you be looking for when conducting an employment background check?
How to do an employment background check
Inform the job applicant
The first step should always be to let the candidate know you are about to run an employment background check. Since you might come across the applicant's data, you should notify them before running the check. Additionally, if you are contracting another company to run the background check for you, you should inform the candidate about it as well.
Read your state laws on data protection
You need to know what you are allowed to include in a background check and what you are not. This way, your employment background check doesn’t turn into a lawsuit.
Call the references
Calling the references should be the last thing on your to-do list when conducting an employment background check. The information you get from the job applicant's references should confirm the information you already have from the employment background check.
When you call the references, don’t forget to ask the following:
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The reason for the candidate leaving the company
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What the job involved
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How long they have worked at that company
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The department that the candidate worked in
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What makes them a good fit for a position at your company?
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What are their strengths and weaknesses?
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What it was like to work with the candidate
What red flags should you watch out for when conducting employment background checks?
1. Refusing to get an employment background check
A lot of disclosure goes into the hiring process, especially from the candidates' side. Therefore, a candidate who refuses an employment background check is a cause for concern. If a candidate doesn't want their information revealed to you for securing a job, you would rather move on to the next candidate.
2. Multiple short-lived jobs
While temporary or seasonal jobs are okay and good for getting experience, someone who keeps moving from one job to the other probably is not there to stay at your company. It could be a sign that they were fired multiple times, forced to resign, or are easily bored by one job position. When hiring an employee, you want to maintain the company employee retention rate. Someone who falls under this red flag may not be the best candidate for the job.
3. Criminal record
When conducting an employment background check, the criminal history of the candidate should be at the top of your screening list. If you don’t run a background check and the employee commits a criminal act when employed in your company, you may have to suffer the ripple effect of these consequences. Even though a criminal incident should not be the reason for not hiring someone, it’s still important that you find out if it exists. The red flag in this category would be if a candidate lies about their past criminal record during an interview.
4. Bad references
References are a good way of learning the work ethic and character of a job applicant. When you call the references of the job applicant, you need to prepare to hear negative reviews. However, sometimes the negative feedback might be a result of a misunderstanding or personal issues that are not the candidate’s fault. On the other hand, sometimes the negative feedback keeps coming from almost all the references and this is a red flag.
5. Inconsistent education or experience
Inconsistency is a common red flag. When you conduct an employment background check and the information you get doesn’t match the information on the resume of the job applicant, sound the alarms! Job applicants can make up the facts of their education and experience to stand out from the rest of the candidates. Embellishing a resume to stand out is okay, but if it turns into mere exaggeration, that employment background check turns into a red flag.
6. Missing relevant past job experiences
Everyone wants to put out the best version of themselves when applying for a job. Therefore, it should come as a shock when an applicant decides to leave out their past relevant experience. It shows that the applicant is hiding something or they may have left the job because of a bad relationship with their past employer. All in all, investigate and tread lightly as you move forward with the candidate.
Conclusion
What happens when you conduct an employment background check and it comes back with red flags? An employment background check is meant to uncover all the details concerning the job applicant, which includes those not disclosed. Therefore, even though red flags may pop up, it’s up to you to know which candidate meets their job needs regardless of their red flags. Have you ever conducted/been the subject of an employment background check? Tell us your experience in the comments.
