Posts Tagged ‘People’
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
There’s a strong movement afoot to push for background checks at online dating sites. But what are the real pros of providing this kind of service?
Below, we look at five of the biggest advantages for sites who are willing to take this measure:
5 Pros to Offering Background Checks at Online Dating Sites:
- Protection. It’s nice to know that if you’re using a particular dating site, people with nefarious backgrounds or criminal records have been screened.
- Convenience. It’s one less thing that an online dater needs to do him- or herself.
- Marketing. Being able to tout your dating site as being one of the only to offer background checks on registrants is a great selling point.
- Value. A site can actually command higher rates from members if they’re able to offer this kind of security.
- PR. The public relations benefit is tough to quantify, but let’s just say that “no news is good news”. What dating site wants to court the possibility of a media circus if one of their members hurts another in some way?
In the end, we’re all for background checks at online dating locales. What do you think?
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Tags: Background Checks, Benefit, Checks Online, Convenience, criminal records, Dater, Dating Site, marketing, Measure 5, Media Circus, Members, Online Dating Sites, People, Public Relations, Registrants
Posted in Background Checks and Screening, Online Dating | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 28th, 2010
“Watching the store”.
It’s a term that applies equally to home and business.
- Boss to employee: “Watch the store. I’m headed out to lunch!”
- Mom to teen: “Hey, bud. Watch the store while I go get some groceries!”
But do you always know exactly who is “watching” your store?
In the cases above, we’re going to assume that the employee was background checked and the teen wouldn’t do anything wrong (lest his mom find out!) However, there are probably plenty of other people who “watch the store” for you…
- Babysitters
- Nannies
- Workers with access to your home/office
- Cleaning personnel
- Interns
- Volunteers
- Neighbors with keys
… and the list goes on…
Is it feasible to background check each of these persons? Generally speaking, yes. After all, doesn’t it make sense for you to know who is “minding the store” while you’re not there? And even if you ARE present (as in the case of a worker who’s in your house to fix the plumbing, install carpeting, etc.), wouldn’t you want to know if he or she had a criminal record?
In an era where it’s easier and more inexpensive than ever to background check a person, there’s really no reason to let someone enter your property without ensuring the safety of your family and coworkers.
VerifyProtect: Fast, Secure, Affordable Background Checks.
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Tags: background check, Background Checks, Boss, Bud, Carpeting, Coworkers, Criminal Record, Groceries, Hey, House Plumbing, Interns, Mom, Nannies, Neighbors, Office Cleaning, People, Volunteers, Watch Store
Posted in Background Checks and Screening, Security Risks | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Summer camp.
It’s a tradition for many kids, one they look forward to for most of the year (especially that seemingly-endless last month of school!) Parents, too, get excited about the annual event. But what they might not realize is that not all summer camps have a policy of background screening the people they hire (or who operate as volunteers).
It’s critical for parents to take a proactive approach in this department, asking the tough questions of any summer camp that would be in charge of their sons and/or daughters. Moms and dads need to make sure that comprehensive, professional background screening of all employees and helpers has occurred… otherwise, tragedy can occur.
With a little pressure from the financial contributors to the summer camp program (i.e., the parents and guardians of the campers), background checks can become the rule, not the exception.
VerifyProtect: Fast, Secure, Affordable Background Checks.
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Tags: Background Checks, background screening, campers, Financial Contributors, Guardians, moms and dads, People, Proactive Approach, Professional Background, School Parents, Summer Camp Program, Summer Camps, Tough Questions, Tradition, Tragedy, Volunteers
Posted in Background Checks and Screening, Camps and Recreation | No Comments »
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
A recent editorial from the Northwest Herald (Illinois) caught our eye.
In the piece, editor Kevin Lyons makes a good case for homeless shelters to require those receiving long-term assistance to undergo background checks to ensure the safety of the other homeless persons. Basically, these types of background checks would screen out the more violent individuals, leading to a more secure experience and environment for the rest of the people at the shelters (including volunteers.)
It’s an interesting concept and one that could have many merits. Obviously, it would have to be studied to find out how background checks could easily be run on people who may not be willing to give their real names (or may not have or know their social security numbers.)
What do you think? Would background checks allow community homeless shelters to better serve their target populations?
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Tags: Background Checks, Editorial, Herald Illinois, Homeless Persons, Homeless Shelters, Kevin Lyons, Merits, Northwest Herald, People, Real Names, Social Security, Social Security Numbers, Target Populations, Term Assistance, Violent Individuals, Volunteers
Posted in Background Checks and Screening, In the News | No Comments »
Tuesday, 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
Posted in Non-profits, Volunteers | No Comments »
Tuesday, 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.
VerifyProtect: Fast, Secure, Affordable Background Checks.
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Tags: Background Checks, background screening, Backgrounds, Company Culture, Core Strengths, corporate culture, Interviewees, People, Position Openings, Proxy, Reputation, Screening Reports
Posted in hiring | No Comments »
