What Should Employers Find in Advanced Background Checks?

Employers who use advanced background checks as part of their hiring process receive comprehensive information about potential employees. This data usually provides a clearer picture of the individual applying for a job role, which proves invaluable during the decision-making. 

Understanding what details are provided by advanced background checks can be confusing for requesters. Often confused with a criminal history screening, the full scope of comprehensive record searches covers multiple areas of an individual’s personal history that a standard background check does not.  

Statistics Support Use of Advanced Background Checks

A leading career website, CareerBuilder, highlighted some disturbing statistics that underscore the crucial step of performing advanced background checks on new hires and employees. In a recent study, this employment website company conducted a survey of employers using their site and found that thirty-seven percent of employees lied about their previous job experience. More worrisome is that 18 percent of applicants had falsified information regarding their skills and abilities. 

These types of inaccuracies can have a devastating impact on companies in any industry because they can lead to poor performance issues, drag down the productivity of current, high-performing team members, and lead to expensive errors that can drive away consumers. This reality is underscored by a later CareerBuilder study which discovered that 36 percent of businesses had experienced productivity loss because of bad hiring decisions. 

At Pre-employ, we recognize the challenge of vetting a potential employee’s skills and personality in just a few short interviews. This is why we encourage our clients to perform advanced background checks to ensure that a candidate’s education, work, and previous employment experiences are accurate. Our highly-trained team knows how to quickly spot inconsistencies in resumes and help you sort through exaggerations that could cost you thousands in wasted training costs from hiring the wrong person for the job. 

We make this possible through our advanced background checks services. Unlike a standard criminal history screening or basic pre-employment background checks, we have created a comprehensive approach that helps you create a complete picture of who you intend to hire. If you are in the process of interviewing or onboarding a new employee, any advanced background checks you request must contain these details.

Advanced Background Checks Identity Verification

One of the initial steps in advanced background checks is verifying the person is actually who they claim to be. Because identity theft has become more rampant and easily accomplished, this step is usually first. Naturally, the first step in a background check is to verify a person is who they claim to be.

Typically, the applicant will supply Pre-employ or our client with the following information to verify their identity:

• Full legal name
• Social security number
• Birthdate
• Any aliases they might have

When running this type of check, you should receive at least a decade or more of known aliases, confirmation of their social security number, and birth date. At Pre-employ, we handle these requests in compliance with federal regulations and ensure any information we pass to you is accurate and relevant to your candidate. 

Criminal History Search

While your candidate may seem charismatic and an open book, you should never take their word at face value. The most seemingly sincere candidates can have a dark past they don’t want to share, and while these events may not jeopardize their opportunity to work for your company, you have the right to know. Organizations that fail to investigate new hires’ criminal history thoroughly put their clients’ safety, current employees, and the reputation of their business at risk.  

Advanced background checks look beyond recent criminal history in the applicant’s current local area. Instead, multi-state criminal reporting is necessary, and possibly a global terrorist search, depending on the security level required for the position you are hiring. At Pre-employ, we often check applicant information across numerous federal databases, including sex offender registries, No-Fly lists, Most Wanted records, and more. This means that criminal history searches should occur at every government level, including county, state, and federal. 

Performing advanced background checks of this scope will also ensure the accuracy of the information you receive regarding your candidate. Due diligence is a crucial quality that hiring companies need from their screening service provider to ensure that reporting is compliant and fair to the applicant.

Vetting a Candidate’s Experience with Advanced Background Checks

As mentioned earlier, employers are constantly dealing with embellished or falsified previous work experience from individuals wanting a job. This makes vetting their work history the next important step when conducting advanced background checks.

Unknowingly hiring an under-qualified individual to fill an open position can be disastrous. At a minimum, employers who find themselves in such circumstances will lose thousands in onboarding and training costs. Worst-case scenarios include the loss of millions in profits, reputational harm, and potentially losing consumers in the process. This makes the stakes incredibly high for organizations seeking new team members.

Pre-employ takes the time-consuming nature of employment history screening and incorporates it within our advanced background checks process.

We have the dedicated resources and time available to handle this important employee background screening need and make it straightforward and convenient for our clients to access.

Our One-Minute Express Verification service increases the turnaround time you have to verify your potential candidates, and speeds up the hiring process dramatically.

Using Advanced Background Checks for Education and Credential Verification

Education and credential verification is another vital screening area that companies need. This could be educational verification, checking for current standing of state or federal licensing, and ensuring they do possess necessary certifications for the position you are hiring. All of this is highly dependent on the type of job role you need to fill, and advanced background checks providers like Pre-employ can ensure your search helps you meet any necessary laws or industry regulations involved with this position.

Any background report that includes a comprehensive review of a candidate’s credentials and education should be of the highest quality. This means that the details your receive should do more than verify they possess needed certifications or degrees, but also includes:

• The institution that issued the degree, diploma, certificate, etc. 
• Dates of issue and expiration if relevant

Employee Credit History

Throughout the United States, businesses hiring new employees into roles that manage monetary accounts and credit management require an extra layer of assurance.

Employee credit history screening is another component of advanced background checks that can help employers decide whether a candidate is a good fit or not for the job. Many organizations feel how an employee uses their credit gives an accurate snapshot of how they might manage company assets and corporate accounts. 

At Pre-employ, we provide our clients with a detailed credit history as part of our comprehensive approach to background screening potential employees. Because we are FCRA-certified, we can also advise you if it is legal for you to request an employee credit history check or not in your state and what you can and cannot do with the information provided. State laws vary widely when it comes to this screening, making it crucial you choose a reputable advanced background checks company when conducting employee background screenings that include this type of report.

Pre-Employ is a Leading Provider of  Advanced Background Checks 

As a premium pre-employment background checking service, Pre-employ screenings show our dedication to making this process simple and straightforward without sacrificing reliability or talent. Clients that rely on our advanced technological software suite enjoy many benefits, including a seamless API integration of our proprietary automation. We streamline the advanced background checks process from criminal record reporting to employment and education verification checks in ways that our competitors can’t compete against.  

Pre-employ provides this next-level comprehensive background check approach for various organizational roles, including employees, volunteers, vendors, contractors, and more. We provide employers centralized access to the vital information they need to make informed hiring decisions. While there are countless alternatives for obtaining advanced background checks, only Pre-employ offers an unwavering focus on superior customer support and excellent applicant experiences backed by a 100% US-based service and support team. 

Request a quote today to learn more about our employment screening solutions.