What Do I Need to Conduct a Background Check?

How to do a background check yourself

Whether you are hiring a new job candidate or considering a current employee for a new position, you must base your decision on accurate background information. Poor hiring choices cost businesses thousands of dollars in lost training expenses, and landlords who base leasing decisions on inaccurate information could lose millions in discrimination lawsuits.

In this article, Pre-employ reviews how to do a background check and why it’s vital to choose a screening provider that has the required training and experience to help you.

What Do I Need to Conduct a Background Check?

Whether you plan to run a pre-employment screening or run a criminal background check on a volunteer for your charity, much of the information you need will remain the same:

  • Full name and possible aliases (previously used names)
  • Their birthdate
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Address history
  • Their permission to run the background check
  • Your organization must meet FCRA purpose requirements to conduct a record search

The last requirement is probably one of the most important as it is mandated by The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This legislation requires employers to follow regulations that ensure a fair background check process. Typically, this permission must be given in writing before screenings can occur, and the organization running the record search must explain how data gets used in the decision-making process.

Types of Background Checks

Running a background check on someone requires understanding what data you need and how to get it. There are many types of screening checks you could conduct, and you may need more than one option to get the complete picture of who a candidate is before making a hiring decision.

Some typical background screens that companies rely on when deciding to hire a candidate or not include:

  • Employment History Verification
  • Felony/Misdemeanor Criminal Search
  • Federal District Court Criminal Search
  • Social Security Number Verification
  • Education History Verification
  • Address History
  • Reference Checks
  • Motor Vehicle Driving Record
  • Drug Testing
  • Credit Report
  • Other Background Check Services

Keep in mind that how you use this information is also dictated by local, state, and federal law. Failing to do so could lead to Not In Compliance (NOI) audits that may result in sanctions against your organization, fines, and reputational damage. This makes using a third-party background check service like Pre-employ invaluable because they have FCRA certified experts on hand to ensure that you understand the information you receive and how you can use it.

How to Do a Background Check Through a Service Like Pre-Employ

Learning how to do a background check can be a daunting task if you try to use more time-consuming traditional methods. Having the time and resources to call individual state agencies, make multiple record requests, and being able to verify the data you receive, is rarely efficient or effective. Working with a background check provider like Pre-employ means you get access to state, local, and federal databases. 

This streamlining of record searches also makes fiscal sense because these firms can give an all-inclusive price, which is usually cheaper than individually paying courts and other individual agencies. Whether you are a landlord, employer, educational or medical institution, the benefits of choosing a third-party vendor for your background check needs makes it a wise decision.

Mitigate Your Liability

Negligence liability is one of the biggest risks that business owners face. Conducting a background check on your own guarantees you won’t get a complete picture of your employee where Pre-employ has access to an extensive network of databases on every level of government.

Save Your Budget

As mentioned earlier, third-party services are generally more affordable than running a check on your own. It’s also important to note that you will get a more accurate snapshot of the individual you are wanting to hire or rent to, which can save you millions in liability lawsuits by avoiding poor hiring or rental decisions.

Reveal Criminal Convictions

Everyone deserves a second chance, but if you are renting government-subsidized housing, you need to verify your applicants qualify under state or federal guidelines. Failure to ensure this could jeopardize your community’s participation in these essential housing programs. Other industries, like the medical field, also have strict regulations in place as to who can or cannot work in medical facilities due to licensing suspensions or malpractice suits. Being compliant is imperative so that your facilities don’t face penalties like fines or sanctions for a bad hire.

Adverse Hiring Decision Guidance

Discrimination against individuals because of their race, sex, religion, or other recognized class is against the law, but this doesn’t always apply to those with criminal convictions. While some states do have a Ban the Box law in place, a qualified third-party provider like Pre-employ can advise you about adverse hiring decisions in your jurisdiction so that you are compliant with regulations.

Learn How to Do a Background Check with Pre-Employ Screening Technology

Faster turnaround times of reliable background check information is one of the primary reasons that Pre-employ is so successful. Our advanced technological pre-employment screening tools and automated software suite saves you time, keeps you compliant, minimizes costs, and gets accurate information for making decisions on the worthiness of a candidate. Our clients enjoy our intuitive dashboard that can also integrate with many HRM software options on the market today.

Learning how to do a background check doesn’t have to be challenging when working with our award-winning customer service and FCRA certified experts. We provide the guidance you need to meet compliance regulations by your local, state, and federal jurisdictions. Pre-employ also provides a centralized client suite that makes ordering checks simple, and our automated tools will eliminate frustrating bottlenecks so that your workflow becomes more efficient. We are proud of our unwavering focus on superior customer support and excellent applicant experiences backed by a 100% US-based service and support team. Contact us today to learn more about our employment screening solutions.

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