Almost every job today requires a background check of one sort or another from grocery store bagger to a senior executive. The practice although fraught with challenges is still the mainstay of most companies as the last hurtle to jump when applying for a new job. A new trend that is occurring now is outside screening companies performing these background checks. Because of this here are some things to remember when preparing to have a background check done.
- Know who is doing the checking. Examine all of the documentation that is given to you and understand who you are giving permission to and the scope of the checking. Some companies are not only doing personal references but they are doing criminal, driving and drug checks as well. Examine the consent form carefully and understand what permission you are giving and to whom.
- Do your own check prior to the company. Under federal law you are permitted to request a copy of any background check that has been run on you. Usually there is a fee that you will need to pay however there are some websites that will let you run one report a year for free. At last check there are three states where you can do this for free (California, Minnesota and Oklahoma). You may not realize however that there are over 1,800 companies that do this type of reporting.
- Correct mistakes quickly. After running your own report or being told that you were turned down because of a background report you need to correct it. By law an employer must tell you if your rejection was based on a report and give you a copy. From that moment you have five days until legally a company has the legal right to hire another individual. So you will need to contact the screening company immediately and demand in writing a reinvestigation.
- If you have been rejected. You need to first determine how the reference checks were done. Ask specific questions about what questions were asked and how were they followed up. Remember it is your information and you need to make sure that it is correct.