Background check: important criteria for employment

Background check: important criteria for employment

Employers are always in need of checking the background of the candidates they are interviewing. Background check is a necessity if there is a need for government security clearance in a job profile. Also, some also check credit reports of candidates applying for the posts related to finance or accounting so as to know the financial condition and dependability of the candidate. So, background checks are very essential part of hiring process but it’s not highlighted so much because it involves the collection of personal and private data of an applicant.

What does a Background Check mean?

Just as we look for a product review before buying it, similarly a back ground check is a profile review of the candidate which takes into account his criminal, commercial and financial records. Back ground checks are very common in the hiring process. According to some surveys, it is revealed that around 70 percent of the employers want their employees to undergo background checks before they get hired.

Why Background Checks are done by Employers

Background checks are a common criterion for hiring people applying for different positions. The employer always wants that the information given that candidate should be hundred percent genuine and truthful. But it is a fact that around 40% candidates provide wrong or false information in their resume which can actually hamper the growth of organization if they are hired. So, an employer is always dedicated to getting the exact employee fitted for their required profile.

If they came to know about the faulty information of the employee after he is hired then the employer will be treated as inefficient. Under the background check process, the employer will know whether the candidate has passed out from the college that he said or to confirm that the company that he mentioned about regarding his previous job is true or not. Also, he can also check whether the time duration or experience of the candidate in the previous job mentioned in the resume is authentic or not.

In this way, the employers can protect themselves from liability issues. For example, if a bus company hires a driver who is not good at driving and the driver crashes the bus then the employer will be held guilty of not selecting an efficient driver. So, if he makes a background check of the driver then he will have proof that the driver he selected was perfect for the job.

Employers should first take permission before taking a Background check

The employers should first take written permission from the candidates or employees before doing any back ground check. And also if the employers want to fire you on the basis of the background check reports they need to intimate you as well as provide you with a copy of that report.

These rules are formulated by Federal trade commission (FTC) so as to protect the privacy and dignity of the employee.  It is expected from the employers that back ground check should be done equally for both male candidates as well as female candidates and also employers are not allowed to discriminate the candidates through the back ground check process.