Most employers conduct a background check to some degree before they hire a new employee.
The background check can also cost you the job opportunity in some instances. Even if you have a job offer, it very well might be conditional on having a “clean” background check.
If you have never had a background check done before – it can be unclear exactly what the employer is looking for.
What do employers look for?
One of the main things that employers are looking for is criminal history. And if there is a criminal record – it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are automatically disqualified.
A lot of employers don’t look at misdemeanor offenses and also might look at “older” offenses as a one-time mistake that can be forgiven (depending on the severity of the crime). This would probably not be the case for violent offenses such as murder, rape, robbery and sexual assault to name a few.
A lot of job functions have different standards also as far as criminal history is concerned. For example – someone with a minor criminal offense would be more likely to get hired as a warehouse worker rather than as a school teacher.
Employers are also looking to verify education, licenses or certificates that you have earned that would relate to the job.
So if there are any mis-truths listed on the resume that can’t be verified – this could also be a reason to have the offer rescinded.
Ultimately – not every employee background check is 100% accurate.
For instance – a criminal conviction might be on your record from a felon who has the same name as you. Or maybe you have been the victim of identity fraud.
It’s always a good idea to do a background check on yourself periodically to check for inaccurate information, especially if it's due to a court clerk's data entry error.
The good news is if you do ever lose a job opportunity due to the background check, you have the right to know why.
Per FCRA, the employer must provide you a free copy of the report. If the background check is inaccurate, you can file a dispute with the information and clear your name.
Global Background Screening LLC offers a self background check that you can do on yourself. The process is very simple with security measures in place to protect your PII. The average time of a completed report is around 24-48 hours as we conduct a thorough search at the court house and utilize numerous police databases consisting of over 650 million Records.
