If you have applied for a job, certain licenses or applied to rent a home or apartment, you have probably had to go through a background check. Depending on the nature of the request, a background check will search everything from civil and criminal records, verifications of licenses, a check of your credit score, motor vehicle history and even call and check references you have provided for yourself. With so much competition in the job market and so many people going for the same positions, employers are using background checks more than they ever did before. They can afford to be selective at this time as they are often faced with tens if not hundreds of candidates to choose from. By doing these comprehensive background checks, they can ensure that they are only getting the best employees.

As a job seeker, arming yourself with the same information that an employer will have when determining if you are a good match for an open job position, can be crucial to landing the job. When you are forewarned with the information that employers can see, when they run a background check on you, you are in a better position to take care of any negative or incorrect information in your history before an employer is ever seeing it. For instance, it is very possible that there may be some incorrect information out there that has been attached to your name or social security number.  Just like you should check your credit report annually, you should make sure your criminal background record is correct as well.

If you have to go through a background check, and you probably will since 3 out of 4 employers are currently doing them on potential employees, it will be in your best interest to have a self background check completed. This is a very simple and fast process and by using companies like backgroundchecks.com, you can do this all from the comfort of your home for one small fee. You will get access to criminal database records an employer might search, such as a national and state criminal background check and even driving record information. You can all of the previous mentioned information in one comprehensive job application check package from backgroundchecks.com.  Arming yourself with this information and fixing incorrect information before going into the interview can help you land the job.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=bd79c035-f265-47bc-a839-cd48e5545322

It is a tough time to be looking for a job, but it can be even tougher when you have all of the experience, a perfect resume and you are still getting passed over for the jobs.  There could be a reason you are getting passed by...it could be your background. Before an employee will hire you, many will do personal background checks on your criminal record. Additionally, they may be pulling information on your driving record through a motor vehicle report.  If they see any of this information as negatively impacting the job, they may pass you by and choose another candidate.

If you have the opportunity to, you may want to run a background check on yourself so you will know what the employer is seeing. If you are not truthfully revealing all criminal information about your past when asked, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, you will surely be looked over when a company sees information that is inconsistent with the information you have provided.  It is certainly possible that some things from your past are showing up on these background records and are making you look bad. For example, you may have a reckless driving conviction from five years ago. Though this might seem insignificant, a potential employer might judge otherwise and shy away.

It is important if you see any negative information on your personal criminal background check that you take steps to take care of them, especially if you were not aware that this information existed. It is also important that, in the mean time, you add this information to your job application when asked. It is best for an employer to know about this past information up front instead of seeing it on a background check. If they find out that way, they will certainly see you as dishonest.

Even if you think that you don’t have anything necessarily “bad” in your background, it is certainly possible that your information could be mixed up with someone else, especially if you have a common name.  If this is the case, when an employer looks for your background information, they might actually see someone else’s information that may be associated with your name.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

In the modern business world, the quality of hire is becoming more and more important, and a recent study by the Aberdeen Group has shown how background checks have started to impact hiring procedures and performance.

Employers are discovering that as a lot of people are seeking a new job in these tough economic times, it tends to inundate companies with new resumes and applications. In other words, it can become very difficult for many employers to confidently wade through all these potential employees and find the one that will be right for the job. In many industries, there are also a number of legal compliance issues that must be considered for the talent acquisition process. Employment background screenings has become a very important tool for increasing the quality of the hire.

Different organizations have different requirements for their hiring process, and this study shows how many different organizations have benefited from more effective hiring results. For example, the screening and filtering process is much more effective, which will save time and allow employers to focus their interviews on the people that have already been identified as good candidates for the job.

One of the major findings of the study said that companies that implement some form of automated background checking experienced a 60% improvement in the quality of their hires compared to companies that did not use any form of screening. The study also showed that these organizations were able to improve other metrics like the time-to-hire as well as the cost-per-hire.

When so many people are competing for the same job, it is conceivable that the information they provide is less than accurate. Unfortunately, many companies don’t discover this until it is too late. When an organization employs a solutions background checks, though, it will be possible to effectively find the right person for the right job.

The employees you hire determine the success of your business. So if you want to be profitable, you can’t afford to be lax in your hiring process. The economy has had a strange effect on the hiring process, in that more people are applying for fewer positions, and if you aren’t careful, then you might be overwhelmed with the number of responses to your advertisement.

Sometimes, the need to fill a position immediately means that you do not have much time to carefully consider each applicant. With the competitive marketplace, you might think you have found the perfect resume, only to find out later that the applicant was a little too liberal when describing their work experience and credentials. While most people will not lie outright on their resumes, if they have something to hide (such as a criminal background) you might not know about it until after you have already hired them.

You want to give your human resources department all the tools they need to make a good decision, and background checks are a great way to ensure your future employees meet all your legal requirements.

Recently, employment background checks have become more advanced, and they let you verify dates of employment, job titles, recommendations and salary history. While you might not do this type of screening during the first round of interviews, once you become serious about an individual, it is increasingly important to run background checks.

Applicants who hold criminal pasts are more likely to stretch the truth on their resume. CareerBuilder.com published a survey that said 49 percent of employers had noticed applicants who fudged more than they thought appropriate.

To filter out unqualified applicants or to ensure you have made the right choice, a background check can help give you peace of mind in the employment process.

We all know the adverse action process: before making a negative hiring (or promotion, assignment, or retention) decision based on a consumer report, you must send a pre-adverse action notice that contains a copy of the report and a statement of consumer rights. At this point, an applicant may dispute the report. If the applicant doesn’t dispute the report, you must send an adverse action notice to the applicant, notifying him of the decision and his rights. This is all in addition to the various state-mandated letters often required.

If this process isn’t followed, severe fines could easily result as they did in July of 2004 for two casinos: Imperial Palace, Inc. and Imperial Palace of Mississippi, Inc. Each utilized credit reports in taking adverse action and each failed to supply applicants with the necessary notices, resulting in a $325,000 out-of-court settlement.

While this is well and good, a case recently appeared that is causing consternation in the business world because the employer is being sued even though they delivered adverse action notices. Why? Because of the timing.

In a lawsuit filed on March 14, 2008, Mandy Burghy alleged that her former employer, the Dayton Racquet Club, had taken adverse action against her without providing her with a copy of her report. According to the suit, Burghy was called in for a meeting with the general manager and her direct supervisor to “discuss the results of the credit check that had been performed and how it might affect Burghy’s employment going forward.” It seems likely that the general manager didn’t mean to do anything wrong and was proactively addressing a problem with an applicant. But Burghy argues that she was fired in this meeting, which occurred on the same day that her employer sent a pre-adverse action letter stating that she could dispute the report and that no decision had yet been made. If the general manager, in fact, told her that she was being fired without first giving her the pre-adverse action notice, those actions clearly violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act, despite any good intentions.

Of the five items delineated in the suit, this contention over adverse action is the only one that is being allowed to continue in litigation. This does not necessarily mean that the Dayton Racquet Club was in the wrong, but it means that the case is going to trial unless they settle.

All of this leads to one very simple conclusion: You have to be careful about who you are talking to, what you are saying and when you are saying it. Most importantly, you have to let the adverse action process take place before making a decision. To not do so means running the risk of a lawsuit and the cost of defending the suit, even if you later win it.

Source: Mandy Burghy V. Dayton Racquet Club, Inc. 2010 WL 728282 (S.D. Ohio). US District Court.  Westlaw. 20 June 2010