Tag Archives: hiring process

Clearing up myths about background checks

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With the use of background checks increasingly in the news, employees and job seekers across all industries are becoming more wary of what details about their personal and professional histories are being researched, reviewed and used against them during the hiring process.

The vast majority of employers use fair, unbiased measures to help them determine the best applicant for a particular job. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a slew of misconceptions out there regarding employment screening. Here are a few of the most common misconceptions, which all employers should be aware of as you journey through the hiring process.

Myth 1: Background check policies are the biggest reason the unemployment rate is so high. This is untrue. Background checks do keep the occasional applicant from securing the job, but background check policies are put in place to ensure the best applicants are hired and retained. The goal is to hire, not to keep a position unfilled.

Myth 2: If you have a criminal record, you won’t be hired. While having a criminal record could pose some difficulties during the hiring process, that depends on how long ago the crime was committed, the nature of the conviction, among other things. According to one survey, less than 10 percent of applicants with criminal records are denied employment.

Myth 3: Employers factor in your credit score when deciding whether or not to hire you. Not true in most cases. Credit checks are typically done when the job in question involves handling money and keeping track of finances. Even so, most employers use what’s called an Employment Credit Report, which does not include a credit score.

Myth 4:  Applicants aren’t given a chance to correct or argue findings. Actually, by law employers are required to give job applicants a copy of their background check and allow them to clear up any misinformation.

As with most areas of business, communication is key. Make sure your policies are clearly stated, and strictly followed. And give prospective employees the chance to clear up any misinformation that might have been uncovered during the process.

Is salary history part of your screening process

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Do you as an employer ask for salary history as part of your hiring process? If so, do you use that information to make your decision on whether or not to hire someone? It seems like such a small detail, but could bring problems for an employer depending on how such information is gathered and used.

Asking for salary history is well within an employer’s legal rights, and most job applicants are happy to provide such information. If you are using a third party employment screening service to gather such information, however, you must have written pre-approval by the applicant. And if the figures you find come into play when deciding not to hire that person, you are required to let them know, as according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act they have a legal right to explain or correct any errors or information you’ve found.

While a job applicant is not required to share salary history, some employers have found that asking for it ends up serving as one way to judge character, because lying about one’s salary history is an easy one to catch.

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Yahoo CEO latest to get caught padding resume

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Well, it has happened again. This time it’s Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson whose resume was found to be padded. Thompson, who was hired by the internet giant in January, has two degrees listed on his resume: A bachelor’s degree in accounting from Stonehill College, and a degree in computer science, which would make sense given his history in the workforce – Thompson previously was an executive with Paypal. Unfortunately, he doesn’t hold a computer science degree.

This lapse in employment screening seems particularly stunning given that it was such an upper-level position (the very top!) with such a public company. But skipping such a critical step in the pre-employment screening process – namely, that of education verification – is something that is commonly done, particularly with someone of Thompson’s stature and distinguished career. Collectively, people in human resources and others involved in the hiring process think ‘Why would he make up anything at this point? Surely someone else would have caught a lie by now.’ It can seem almost ridiculous to spend time and money verifying someone’s education credentials at that level.

But Thompson’s story is exactly why it’s critical to conduct a thorough employment screening every single time. Yahoo is now dealing with a public relations nightmare, not to mention upheaval within its ranks and among its biggest investors. Those are headaches no business wants. So do yourself a favor, learn by others’ mistakes, and be thorough and unbiased in your own screening protocols.

 

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Failure to perform background check has $1 million price tag for Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

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It’s difficult to put a dollar figure on the value of background checks. But that got a lot easier recently for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The value for them turned out to be $1 million – that’s how much a woman embezzled over a seven-year period while working as a volunteer bookkeeper at the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

The bookkeeper was hired in 2003 before background checks were a routine part of the hiring process. If the diocese had run a background check on her, it would have discovered she had been convicted of grand larceny in one case and had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in another, according to an article in The New York Times.

This story should serve as a reminder to all those who still believe pre-employment screening is not worth the time and money it takes to conduct them. Criminal records and credit checks are a must for anyone who will be entrusted with the finances of your business. In particular all those who handle money, or care for others, should be thoroughly vetted. 

 

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Employment verification takes the padding out of résumés

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When we think of pre-employment screening, employers often think of conducting background checks to turn up any criminal record a job applicant has or running a credit report to see if the potential hire is financially trustworthy. But the pre-employment screening process actually should start with something much simpler — verifying the information contained in the applicant’s résumé.

A lot has changed about the hiring process, but a résumé is still often the first thing you see regarding a potential employee. Yet would-be employees continue to pad their résumé with half-truths and outright lies, which makes employment verification a critical step in the hiring process.

As an employer, you need to do your homework on each and every applicant you are seriously considering, to make sure you’re getting someone with the depth of experience and education they purportedly have. The most common details on a résumé that are “enhanced” include: 

  1. Education. Doublecheck the fact that the applicant received the degree listed from the university listed. Also check to make sure the educational institution is an accredited college or university, not one of the many “diploma mills” out there.
  2. Length they’ve held a title. Sometimes an applicant will list an ending title beside the dates of their employment with a particular company, making it seem like they’ve been in a managerial or executive position for far longer than they have. Find out how long they held the most recent title and what responsibilities they had.
  3. Singular responsibility for group success. Applicants often enhance the contributions they made to a company’s bottom line or new initiative, regardless of how personally involved or responsible they were for that success.
  4. Salary. Make sure the current salary they list is what they’re actually earning, not what they think they’re worth.
  5. Computer skills. Employees know how critical it is to have certain computer-related skills, but listing a bunch of programs and applications in which they’re “proficient,” or saying that they’re “social media savvy” isn’t necessarily the case. Find out whether those specific programs and skills were used at their last job(s), or whether they just think you want them to be knowledgeable in those areas.

 

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Tips for employers on hiring smart

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It’s no secret that the smartest employers hire professional employment screening services to handle the background checks of its would-be hires and employees. But wise employers understand that merely signing a contract with a background check company doesn’t ensure that your business will only hire the very best applicants for every position. An employer needs to remain attentive and insightful during the hiring process. Don’t check out just because you’ve paid someone to check them out.

Here are a few things every employer should do to stay present in the hiring game and be sure your company is making the best decisions for its future:

1. Weed through the applicants before beginning background checks. It’s a costly and wasteful move to have every single applicant undergo a background check, so don’t use that as your first step toward finding quality applicants. First study their resumés, conduct phone interviews and check references. Then you can hand-pick a select few top applicants to undergo the background check process.

2. Be smart about what to check. A qualified employment screening service should be able to tailor the type of background check to the type of job you’re trying to fill. For example, not every applicant for every job needs to undergo a credit check.

3. Check the background of the company you’re hired to complete your background checks. There are a ton of businesses out there that purport to be thorough, fast employment screening services. But many of them are not reputable, and anything but thorough. Check the credentials of the employment screening service you’re thinking of hiring. The last thing you want to do is sign on with a scammer.

4. Know the law. Laws and regulations regarding discrimination and privacy concerns in background checks vary from state to state, so do some research into what is the acceptable protocol where your business is located.

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New PA measure aims to prevent workplace violence in health care facilities

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In an attempt to improve workplace safety in a number of health care facilities across Pennsylvania, the Health Care Facilities Workplace Violence Prevention Act was recently introduced in the Pennsylvania House. The act, called HB 1992, requires Pennsylvania hospitals and other health care facilities to take steps to protect health care workers from being the victims of workplace violence. Those steps include assessing security risks, finding ways to make the workplace safer, and assisting workplace violence victims in their efforts to report such incidents.

The new legislation comes in response to the recent rise in workplace violence incidents targeting health care professionals across the U.S., particularly nurses. Over half of the nurses surveyed by the Emergency Nurses Association in 2010 reported experiencing physical or verbal abuse at work in the previous seven days, and between eight and 13 percent of emergency nurses said they are victims of workplace violence incidents every week.

Employers at health care facilities need to make workplace safety a top priority, and that begins with the hiring process. A thorough employment screening process can help weed out those who pose a safety risk to fellow employees.

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Develop a Hiring Process… Today!

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It doesn’t matter how big or small your company is — you need to make certain that you’ve regulated your hiring process.  If you don’t currently have a system in place, you definitely need to do so… pronto!

To get started, you only need to put together a document that describes the hiring process, step-by-step.  For instance, Step One could be:  Determine the complete job description for the position to be advertised.  From there, it will be relatively easy to figure out how to make sure your hiring process is as air-tight as it can possibly be.

One thing — don’t forget to include background screening in your hiring process.  As you chart the your course for getting great employees on board, you should always have measures in place that protect your company — background checking every potential hiree is one of those measures.

The best part of having a hiring process in place?  Anyone can pick up the ball and run with it!  All they have to do is follow directions… and that makes your company even stronger.

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The High Cost of Avoiding Background Checks

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It’s time to get realistic about background checks, because plenty of companies have been considering them to be either superfluous or optional.  And, in all honesty, they are neither.

Background checks may seem like just another “boring” part of the hiring process, but the avoidance of them is akin to opening the door for huge problems. 

What are the costs of eschewing background checks?  In our experience, they are many; below are just a few:

1.  Bad PR. 

What company can afford to have the media knocking on their door because they made a terrible hiring choice that could have been avoided?  Answer:  No company.

2.  Lowered Morale.

Many businesses don’t think about the effects of lowered morale on their people… until productivity tanks and good employees begin to flee.  Can you say “revolving door”?

3.  Embezzlement, Fraud, etc.

How would you like to wake up one day to discover a worker had embezzled from your organization, committed fraudulent activities or stolen your customers’ information?  It happens more frequently than it should… and background screening can help protect you against this possibility.

Our suggestion for your rule of thumb?  When hiring, always background check. 

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Background Checking Takes Guesswork Out of Hiring Process

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If you’ve ever had to interview a job candidate, you know that there can be a ton of guesswork involved for both parties.  But when you add background checking to the mix, you take away much of that guesswork, replacing it with solid facts.

What elements of guesswork does background checking candidates for positions at your company help to remove?

  1. Fear of Hiring Someone with a Criminal Past. 
  2. Worry That There is Something Wrong on Resume That You’re Not Catching.
  3. Concern That You’ll Be Opening the Doors to Future Lawsuits.
  4. Fear of Hiring the “Wrong” Person for the Job.
  5. Worry That the Person You’re Interviewing isn’t Being Truthful.

Systematic, comprehensive background checking on all job candidates will make your job much easier.  Rather than relying on your “gut”, you’ll have specific information that will enable you to make hiring decisions about which you can feel wholly comfortable. 

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