How Employment History Checks Help Companies Vet & Prevent Risky Hires?

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Employment history verification is the process of checking an applicant’s work history. It is usually conducted before hiring a candidate. The process can be done manually, by using software, or by hiring a professional third party company. Employers use this information to make sure that they are not hiring people who have been fired from previous jobs or those with very poor performance on their previous jobs.

The importance of employment verification cannot be overstated because it helps employers make the right decision when hiring new employees and prevents fraudsters from getting jobs. Employment history checks can be used to authenticate an applicant’s identity and verify their experience. It also provides employers with information on the applicant's qualifications, which is an important factor in hiring decisions.

The employment history check has many benefits for both employers and job seekers. Employers get a better idea of who they are hiring, while job seekers are able to prove their worthiness as qualified candidates. The check can be done in person or online by reviewing public records, social media, and other information on the internet. Checks can also be conducted through a third-party company who will do an extensive search on behalf of the employer.

What Information Can Be Released For an Employment Verification?

Employers should not ask for any information that is not relevant to the position. In some cases, employers may ask for a list of references. However, they cannot request personal information such as a social security number, driver’s license number, or credit card numbers.

employment history checks
Employment history checks

The employer can request a list of references and contact information from the applicant. If the candidate provides this information in advance and agrees to provide it upon request from the employer, then the employer may contact these references for verification purposes.

What are the Usual Types of information that are Collected During an Employment History Check?

The data collected may include employment dates and start date, type of employment held, education, job title, employer name, reason for leaving (if applicable), previous line managers, bonuses and other financial rewards relevant and personal references.

how to get proof of employment history
How to get proof of employment history

Employment history records are not as straightforward as it may seem. There are many different kinds of information that can be collected during an employment history check. The first thing that is usually checked is the applicant’s work history, which includes their job title, employer, and location. This can be done through a search in the public records or by calling the previous employer directly. 

How Do Employers Verify Employment History?

Some employers do this in-house by contacting the previous employers of the candidate and asking for a reference. They conduct an interview with the previous employer to find out more about the candidate's skills and qualifications.

how to get employment history
How to get employment history

However, there are some employers who prefer to use third party services that provide verification of employment history. The third party company will perform a background check by investigating the candidate's past work experience, and any other relevant information.

Why You Need to Hire a Professional Background Checking Company for Your Business?

It is crucial for every business to partner with a professional background checking company because they are experts in verifying the credentials of a candidate. The most important benefits are:

  • Reducing the risk of hiring people with poor performance on their previous employment
  • Making sure that your employees have the right experience, expertise and skill set for their job position
  • Increasing trustworthiness among your customers

Professional background checking companies usually have access to information that is not easily accessible publicly. They collect valuable information about a candidate and make sure that it is accurate. As such they enable employers to make the right hiring decisions.

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FAQs

What background check do I need?

This depends on the industry and type of role you are recruiting for. To determine whether you need reference checks, identity checks, bankruptcy checks, civil background checks, credit checks for employment or any of the other background checks we offer, chat to our team of dedicated account managers.

Why should employers check the background of potential employees?

Many industries have compliance-related employment check requirements. And even if your industry doesn’t, remember that your staff have access to assets and data that must be protected. When you employ a new staff member you need to be certain that they have the best interests of your business at heart. Carrying out comprehensive background checking helps mitigate risk and ensures a safer hiring decision.

How long do background checks take?

Again, this depends on the type of checks you need. Simple identity checks can be carried out in as little as a few hours but a worldwide criminal background check for instance might take several weeks. A simple pre-employment check package takes around a week. Our account managers are specialists and can provide detailed information into which checks you need and how long they will take.

Can you do a background check online?

All Veremark checks are carried out online and digitally. This eliminates the need to collect, store and manage paper documents and information making the process faster, more efficient and ensures complete safety of candidate data and documents.

What are the benefits of a background check?

In a competitive marketplace, making the right hiring decisions is key to the success of your company. Employment background checks enables you to understand more about your candidates before making crucial decisions which can have either beneficial or catastrophic effects on your business.

What does a background check show?

Background checks not only provide useful insights into a candidate’s work history, skills and education, but they can also offer richer detail into someone’s personality and character traits. This gives you a huge advantage when considering who to hire. Background checking also ensures that candidates are legally allowed to carry out certain roles, failed criminal and credit checks could prevent them from working with vulnerable people or in a financial function.

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Request a discovery session with one of our background screening experts today.

State of Hiring and Background Checks Discrepancies

Veremark’s 2022 Annual Report is based on the background check data collected from over 100,000 checks from companies and professionals across 6 countries and 5 key industries last year.

This report focuses on the state of hiring and background check discrepancies and is an essential guide to all recruiters and HR professionals conducting hires, background checks and onboarding in 2022.

In this report, we discuss:  

  • What areas and factors can Background Checks discover?  
  • Where did the findings come from by country and sector?
  • Discrepancies by top 5 sectors
    • Fintech and Financial Services      
    • HR, Staffing and Recruiting      
    • Technology and Software      
    • Professional Services      
    • Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
  • Discrepancies by top 6 countries
    • Estonia      
    • Singapore      
    • United Kingdom      
    • Australia & New Zealand      
    • India      
    • Philippines
Get your own copy!