Hiring Squad
You're Hired! Now, Tell Us About Yourself
Advances in technology have made background checks easier and cheaper.
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Friday, June 23, 2006; 6:00 AM
The private sector hiring process has traditionally involved four steps: submitting an application, obtaining an interview, accepting the position and signing the paperwork that makes the job official.
More and more, however, a fifth step -- the background check -- is now added. To avoid surprises, workers should educate themselves about the process in preparation for what's increasingly likely to come.
Pre-employment screening and background checks have been around for a quarter century. But employers have submitted candidates to substantially more such checks over the last 10 years. Technology has lowered costs and made checks easier.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management's 2005 Reference and Background Checking Survey Report, 96 percent of employers conduct some form of background or reference check on job applicants; screening services firm ADP said in its 2006 Screening Index that it conducted nearly 4.9 million background checks in 2005, up more than 20 percent from 2003.
"Historically background checks had been limited to large companies that handled money and individuals who were pretty high up within an organization," says James Lee, chief marketing officer of Alpharetta, Ga.-based employment screening company ChoicePoint. But with new technology, "it is no longer limited to executives -- now you can check everyone."
A proliferation of lawsuits that have found employers liable for employees' criminal conduct, as well as security concerns following September 11, 2001, have also contributed to the increase in checks conducted.
With background checks on the rise across all industries, what should workers know about background checks and their use in determining their suitability for employment? If an employer has issued an offer -- background checks don't take place until that point -- it will generally look for three things, according to Lee:
How an employer might investigate those matters can vary. A lengthy list of data points might be sought, according to SHRM, including:
