What To Check to Ensure You’re Hiring the Right Person

After you’ve spent money on advertising for an open position and hours reviewing and interviewing candidates, you hopefully have a good feeling about the employee selected. But your job isn’t finished. Sometimes a candidate may have misrepresented themselves. The only way you’ll know that is by digging into the information they supplied. Once you’ve given the selectee a conditional offer of employment, you can get to work on the verification process. Verifying information is not only to determine if the candidate is honest, but undiscovered criminal history can damage the business’s reputation. If verification wasn’t performed and the employee is caught in a scandal, and you discover they have a history, companies are liable and can suffer public relations problems. Depending on the type of position and industry, several pieces of information may need to be reviewed or verified. Evaluate the position and the risk. A fast-food worker won’t need the same level of scrutiny as an elementary school teacher. Here are the things hiring managers should consider.

Background Check

Background checks are pretty standard, and they can tell you a few things about the employee. Still, they are heavily dependent on the information provided by the applicant. Criminal checks will use the county of residence, name, and birthdate. Most applicants are forthright in their aliases and where they previously resided, but some may intentionally omit certain items. Since a Social Security Number (SSN)  is used for employment, an SSN trace will identify everywhere the SSN was used and under its associated names.  

Credit Report

If the employee works with client money or has direct access to the business finances, a credit report can be valuable information.  

Drug Screen

If working with Government contracts, your company may be required to perform drug screening for new applicants. In other companies, it will depend on the industry and if there is a risk such as working on mechanical equipment or in driving positions.

Social Media Posts

Sometimes reviewing social media posts can give you insight into the character of the employee you are considering. This is typically done before conditional selection.

Driving Record

If the employee will be driving and on your company insurance, you will need to verify they have a valid license a good driving record.

Hiring new employees is a costly endeavor, and businesses need to make sure they have made a solid selection. There is no guarantee, but with a little research, you can get pretty close and protect your company in the process.