Background Employment Screening – Get To Know A Thing Or Two About Your Employee-To-Be
posted in Bricks and Mortar Business |Background screening has become very common in most industries. When a person applies for a position, they are often told they will need to undergo a background screening as part of the hiring process. If the background screening does not come back with the information that is expected, the person does not get the job.
The background screening will usually include a check of a person’s driving history, their criminal record, their credit history, education background, and reference check. Many people feel that this type of in depth screening for a job is against the basic rights of a person to privacy. They are right, to an extent.
By signing of an application, an individual is agreeing to have the company use any information in the application for screening purposes. When there is an inaccuracy on the application, it can negatively impact the decision to hire you. It is important that the application be accurate and error free. By keeping the information on an application accurate you are ensuring that the screening that is conducted using that application will be positive.
When information that is requested on an application is unknown, it is okay to put that on the form. Many individuals and businesses think that signing the application form gives the company permission to do the same type of thorough examination of a resume. This is not true. Unless you are asked to sign a waiver giving permission for the resume to be researched, a company may not check the information on the resume to see if it is true. When a resume is treated like an application without the permission of the applicant, it is an unauthorized invasion of privacy.
When giving permission for a background screening you are given several boxes that must be initialed on the form. There are different levels of screening conducted for different types of positions. If you are not dealing with money, finances, bookkeeping, etc., there is no reason for a company to check your credit history.
When a request for a credit history is made it can affect your credit score. If the company is going to commit to providing you with a loan at some point then you may want them to check your credit now. However, in most cases, the credit check is just a standard part of the process and the companies doing this do not consider that it is not relevant to the position and can impact your credit score.
If something is going to come back on the background check that has not been discussed with the interviewer, you will want to talk about it before the screening is sent. For instance, if there is a felony criminal record, it will show up on the background screening. By preparing the company for this ahead of time they will not feel that you have been deceitful. It is important that any negative information that may come back be discussed prior to the screening process.
The amount of information you want to allow a company to collect on you is a personal decision. You need to be aware that this information is kept in some files for up to seven years on average. You should always be aware of your rights when a Employee Background Screening is going to be conducted. There are serious rights issues involved in many of the Background Check processes that can have a negative impact on you in the future.
