“What kinds of information can be revealed in an employment reference check? What value can they provide during the hiring process?”
These are the questions that employers should seek to answer when assessing an applicant’s resume. Pre-employment background checks are a vital part of the process, and are becoming more common. Employers these days are simply not willing to waste time hiring and then training a dud, or take risks with people who can get to the meat and bones of their company.
And their conscientiousness is for good reason, too. Employment reference checks help confirm whether or not a potential employee is the right fit for the job and the company in terms of educational background, experience, and ability to adapt to the company culture.
There is a fairly wide range of background checks that can be performed, depending on the nature of the job at hand. While employers won’t run every type of check, it still pays to know your options.
1. Credit Check
Many employers look into the credit history of potential hires so as to get a sense of their character and responsibility. However, recently this has proven ineffective as debt and bad credit affect just about anyone. Rarely is it even relevant to someone’s position and ability to perform their job well. Except, for example, the company or position is in the finance industry or department.
2. Driving Record
Bad drivers don’t have to start quaking in their boots. Whether or not a person has accumulated driving violations will only be important for someone applying for a job with a heavy driving component. With permission, an applicant’s entire driving history can be evaluated by future employers, from minor traffic violations to grievous license suspensions (or worse).
For reference, driving records or MVRs (Motor Vehicle Reports) include:
- Current status of driver’s license
- Traffic accidents
- Driving record points
- Records of traffic violations, convictions, and fines
- DUI’s
3. Education Verification
Meticulous HR managers will call the university listed on a potential hire’s resume in order to weed out the phonies and embellishers. While this step isn’t part of the regular background check process, most employers will take the time to verify this part of a person’s resume. Of course, someone’s educational background plays a big part in determining whether or not he’s the right person for the job. Needless to say, any dishonesty in this area of the application will be identified very easily, so it’s best to just avoid it.
4. Personal References
Personal references are basically people who could attest to a potential hire’s character, and could be anyone from a previous boss or a university professor. The purpose of scrutinizing these endorsements is to get a sense of how a person behaves in a professional setting, as well as their work ethic and performance.
5. Criminal History
If there’s one vital piece of background information that employers aren’t willing to disregard, it’s the possibility of someone having a criminal record. Criminal history investigations are the pillar of most employment reference checks. Big crimes are always the first to be checked: violent offenses, sex crimes, fraud or embezzlement, and other felony convictions.
Criminal records, or “rap sheets”, usually contain someone’s history of:
- Misdemeanor convictions
- Felony convictions
- Past arrests
- Warrants
- Current pending charges
- Dismissed charges
- Acquitted charges