March 2nd, 2010
It’s March, which means parents are starting to mull over the question: “What is my son/daughter going to do this summer?” For many families, the answer is some type of camp, whether residential or day-based.
But before sending any child away from the home to be under the care of strangers, it’s important for moms, dads and grandparents to be assured that the people watching out for those youngsters have been background screened.
Unfortunately, not all summer camps have a standard background screening process, especially those that are only a few hours per day in length. Why? Quite honestly, from the camp directors’ viewpoints, background screening is often considered to be “unnecessary”. However, we all know that one bad employee can bring down an organization quickly and publicly.
To all the mothers and fathers out there — be certain to ask whether your child’s instructors and counselors have been thoroughly background checked. And to camp organizers everywhere — please know that the small amount of money you’ll spend background screening your employees will be well worth it in the long run.
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Tags: Amount Of Money, Background Checks, background screen, background screening, Camp Counselors, Camp Directors, Dads, Grandparents, Kid Camp, Mothers And Fathers, Organizers, Parents, summer camp, Summer Camps, Viewpoints, Youngsters
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February 25th, 2010
Looking for a good reason to perform background checks on new hires?
We’ll give you nine:
1. You’ll be protecting your other employees.
2. You’ll be protecting your finances.
3. You’ll be protecting your business from potential bad publicity.
4. You’ll be saving money because you won’t be hiring people whom you’ll have to fire soon after.
5. You’ll be able to tell your clients and vendors that all your employees are background checked. (It goes a long way in terms of establishing your credibility and trustworthiness.)
6. You’ll be ensuring that your business stays competitive.
7. You’ll be able to weed out people quickly during the interview process.
8. You’ll feel more comfortable about the people you bring on board.
9. You’ll have a better sense of security when entrusting workers with responsibility.
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Tags: background checking, Background Checks, Bad Publicity, Better Sense, Credibility, Finances, Good Reason, Protecting Your Business, Saving Money, Sense Of Security
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February 23rd, 2010
- The plumber who fixes your leaking faucet.
- The housecleaner who tidies up while you’re at work.
- The carpet layer who laid the flooring in your bedroom.
What do these three people have in common? They are all strangers in your house. And that means you have allowed them access into your personal sphere of influence.
Though some third-party companies who hire and send out professionals like plumbers, cleaners and electricians do perform background checks on their employees or contractors, many don’t. (If that thought worries you, it means you’re human!)
The next time you’re planning on allowing someone into your house, be certain to find out if he or she has been background screened. It’s not an unreasonable request; after all, you’re exposing your private information and those you care about to potential danger. So you deserve to know that anyone entering your home has been cleared.
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Tags: Background Checks, background screening, Carpet Layer, Electricians, Flooring, Housecleaner, Leaking Faucet, Personal Sphere, Plumber, Plumbers, Potential Danger, Sphere Of Influence, Third Party Companies, Unreasonable Request
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February 19th, 2010
As important as it is to have a procedure for background checking all potential new hires, it’s equally as important to have expectations for how the data is handled. This is especially true in the day and age of the Internet.
Consider this scenario:
If a terrible (or even shocking) background check comes back on a potential job candidate, it might be tempting for your employees to talk about those findings on any of the popular social networking sites. (And yes, this does happen - people have been fired for what they say on Facebook, and that fact can’t be taken lightly by employers.)
This means you have to find a good way to deal with the background check results you receive. Not only should they be treated with the highest degree of confidentiality, but anyone handling them should be aware that it’s unacceptable to talk about the findings with anyone who doesn’t need to know.
Though it may seem to be “common sense” that your workers would understand their responsibility in this arena, you can’t take too many precautions.
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Tags: background check, background checking, Background Checks, Blab, Common Sense, Confidentiality, Facebook, job candidate, new hires, Popular Sites, Social Networking Sites
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February 16th, 2010
Are you involved with a nonprofit organization?
If so, does it have mandatory background checks for volunteers?
If you said “no”, don’t feel ashamed, as you’re probably in the majority. Surprisingly, a good number of volunteer organizations - even many dealing with kids - have no policy of background checking the people who help out. And that can mean a world of problems down the road.
Want some reasons to implement background screening for your volunteers? We’ll give you three biggies:
- Do your volunteers ever collect money for the organization? If they do, how do you know that cash is getting to your nonprofit? A criminal background check can ferret out people who have sketchy histories when it comes to dealing with dollars.
- Do your volunteers ever have any opportunity to be with kids (even if it’s not “alone time”)? If you said “yes”, you can imagine what could happen if one of your helpers turned out to have a history as a sex offender or criminal. This is the era of the Internet and news will travel faster than you think.
- Do your volunteers ever drive on behalf of your organization? If their driving records include DUIs or other vehicle-related incidents and there’s ever an accident, guess who will get blamed?
Now, we know that many volunteer organizations balk at the thought of paying for background checks. After all, it’s a common misconception that screening costs an arm and a leg… and most nonprofits have little to spare. However, conducting background checks is not nearly as pricey as most people believe. In fact, it’s much more affordable than the bad press that one incident can create.
Be safe and keep your organization healthy. Always background check your volunteers.
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Tags: background checking, background screening, Common Misconception, Criminal Background Check, Ferret, Histories, Mandatory Background Checks, Money, Nonprofit Organization, Nonprofits, People, Sex Offender, Volunteer Background, Volunteer Organizations, Volunteers
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February 11th, 2010
Even though businesses of all sizes know that they should ideally be checking the backgrounds of every person they hire, many very small companies are still wavering in their commitment to do so.Why aren’t these smaller organizations protecting themselves by conducting background checks on new hires? Though their reasons vary, here are a few of the most common excuses:
- They think that background screening is too costly. Though it’s actually quite economically-priced (check out the affordable options at our site!), business owners are worried that background checks will somehow negatively affect their bottom lines.
- They haven’t hired before and don’t know how to work with a background screening company. For these business owners, not conducting background checks happens because they simply are not aware of their options.
- They don’t hire very often. If there isn’t a hiring process at the company, background screening of applicants won’t be part of the culture.
- They feel they can hire based on “gut instincts”. As any entrepreneur who has been burned by a bad employee can attest, the “guts” can be wrong.
If you’re the founder or president of a very small company, don’t allow any of the above excuses to keep you from performing background checks on any person who will be on your payroll. In the end, it’s the smart thing to do.
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Tags: background checking, Background Checks, background screening, Backgrounds, Bottom Lines, business owners, Company Background, Entrepreneur, Gut Instincts, Guts, hiring process, new hires, Payroll, Screening Company, Small Businesses
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February 9th, 2010
If you’ve been wondering exactly why all your interviewees seem to come back with terrible background screening reports, you may want to look internally rather than externally for answers.
At many companies, the real focus shouldn’t be that applicants are awful; in fact, it’s really just a symptom of a larger problem. It could be that the company is attracting the wrong types of people for their position openings… and they’re probably not doing it deliberately.
Every organization has a reputation and if you find yourself only receiving applications from candidates whose backgrounds wind up to be worrisome (at best), it’s time to do some evaluation of your company’s core strengths and corporate culture.
From there, you’ll have a much better idea as to whether you need to make changes in the way you treat your people (and, by proxy, the way they treat your customers.) It could just make all the difference when it comes to attracting candidates that are golden… not tarnished.
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Tags: Background Checks, background screening, Backgrounds, Company Culture, Core Strengths, corporate culture, Interviewees, People, Position Openings, Proxy, Reputation, Screening Reports
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February 6th, 2010
Over time, processes that once worked for businesses can become cumbersome, ineffective or downright terrible. One of those types of processes is the hiring of new employees.
Generally speaking, as a company grows, its hiring needs change considerably. After all, there’s a huge difference between a 5-person operation and a 100-employee small business. Hiring processes need to reflect those differences.
If your organization hasn’t evaluated the system you use to hire people, it’s time to do so. Make a flowchart outlining every detail, including timeframes. That way, you’ll be able to see where you can make improvements.
Hiring well can negate plenty of other problems down the road. Don’t allow your system to let the wrong people through the door!
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Tags: Background Checks, Business Processes, Flowchart, Hasn, Hiring Employees, hiring process, hiring system, Improvements, Person Operation, small business, Terrible One
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February 2nd, 2010
Do you have a policy of background checking your best applicants before they are offered jobs? If so, you’ll want to mention this fact in your interviews.
What does bringing up the subject do? First and foremost, it allows any applicant to “come clean” about something not-so-great on their records. All you have to do is ask if there’s anything you’re likely to find. Because the applicant realizes you’re serious, he or she may be more apt to tell you about a criminal record, bad credit, etc.
Although talking about background checks during the interview process certainly won’t make every interviewee “fess up”, it can be a good way to help you weed out the wheat from the chaff.
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Tags: Background Checks, Bad Credit, Criminal Record, Interview Process, Interviewee, Interviews, Jobs, Wheat From The Chaff
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