Tess Taylor The face value of a
n employee is just not good enough in today’s world. This is a concern that employers need to realize before bringing an individual on board. The truth is, you don’t know this candidate from Adam or whether or not the candidate’s resume is even factual. Background checks open that crack and allow you to peer inside to learn a bit more about this person—before you make a job offer.
What Can Background Checks Tell You?
In a competitive job market, it’s an unfortunate fact that applicants are more likely to embellish the details on his or her resume in order to look like a better candidate for the position. Sometimes, this is easy to see. Other times, not so much. However, with a reliable background check, you can really learn the truth including:
- Is his or her work history accurate?
- Is the applicant’s education valid?
- Does the individual have a criminal past?
- Is the individual cleared through drug testing?
These are upfront facts you need to know and simply cannot know without the aid of a background check. Otherwise, you could be endangering your employees and your business itself.
What’s the Real Risk?
With the aid of a background screening, it is possible to learn as much information as possible about the potential employee. Since you will be entering into a legal relationship with this individual, you have the right to know about that individual. The Justice Department Bureau of Justice Statistics provides a figure from its Workplace Violence, 1993 -2009 study indicating that more than 572,000 non-fatal crimes occurred in the workplace in a single year on average. Employees are often the target. You cannot take that big of a risk with your company, your employees, by not knowing.
Why Else Should You Care?
There are plenty of reasons to conduct a thorough background check of prospective employees. For example, these provide a valuable tool to the hiring manager in selecting the right candidate for the job. It helps to ensure the candidate brought in is one that will not likely cause potential problems for the company. It ensures your investment in this new hire is a good one.
Background Checks are Easy to Get
It is easy to conduct thorough background checks, too. The use of a third-party service that specializes in background screening tools is the easiest option. Working with local agencies to conduct drug screenings is not difficult to do. In some cases, you may even ask the candidate to pay for the costs of such screenings and, if hired, you will reimburse them.
Important and even vital, background checks are no longer just an option. They are critical to the hiring process and to the well-being of your business.
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