What Is Background Screening and Who Can Use It?

We’ve all heard of background screening. This is a way for certain individuals to gain insight into somebody else’s documented history.

Interestingly, though, not everybody fully understands exactly what this process involves or who is able to utilize it. Let’s explore what you should know.

What Exactly Is Background Screening?

As the name suggests, a background screening involves looking up certain information about an individual in question. It’s often conducted by consulting archived records about that person’s past behavior.

Although this might seem invasive in some cases, it’s a necessary practice in many situations. This is simply due to the fact that it can help protect every party involved.

What Does It Check For?

The multiple different factors that you can gain insight into through background screening. Most often, people choose to use this tool in order to take a look at a person’s criminal history.

Learning about this information is often a deciding factor about whether or not it’s in your best interest to do business with someone.

However, there are numerous other attributes that you can check for, as well.

Property managers and landlords often check for rental history to determine whether or not the person in question has been evicted in the past. They often also choose to investigate their monthly income in order to establish if they can pay rent.

Many institutions take a look at someone’s credit report in order to determine their financial responsibility. Of course, some background screenings are much more involved depending on the situation.

Those who apply to government jobs or need to obtain a certain level of security clearance will be subject to a much more comprehensive background check. This often includes checking the validity of someone’s fingerprint, delving into their tax information, and searching for other information pertaining to them as a professional.

Put simply, a background screening can check for virtually whatever you need it to as long as it has legitimate relevancy to your situation. For example, it’s not common for a potential lender to take a look at your criminal history when deciding whether or not you are a suitable borrower for a loan.

Who Should Use It?

Although there are many different types of people and entities who can take advantage of background screenings, two stand out among the rest:

Employers and landlords.

These people are often frequently in situations where they need to gain a bit of reassurance that the people they are working with are trustworthy. Let’s take a look at each situation independently.

Employers

It should come as no surprise that employers make extensive use of background screenings when choosing potential applicants. After all, hiring the wrong individual could end up costing your organization a significant amount of money.

You will then have to devote additional time toward finding another candidate. So, it’s in your best interest to initially make the right decision.

One of the most important obligations that come with screening job applicants is employment verification. This allows you to determine whether or not they have the level of experience they claim to have.

When looking at this information, it’s essential to consider salary, duration of employment, and job title.

Of course, you’ll also want to take a look at someone’s criminal record. Depending on the organization the employer works at, there may be a bit of leniency when it comes to certain crimes.

For instance, someone who is arrested for misdemeanor possession over a decade ago may not encounter any issues. An individual who was convicted of a felony firearms offense, however, likely won’t be the best choice for the position.

In general, hiring managers keep an eye out for felonies and crimes related to drugs, theft, or violence. Sexual offenses are also enough to blacklist a potential candidate.

Looking into someone’s criminal history will also tell you whether or not they have an outstanding warrant for their arrest. You may even discover that they are currently undocumented citizens.

Landlords

Although landlords typically conduct fewer background checks than a hiring manager does, they still need to take this obligation seriously.

Gaining insight into their income can easily prevent you from making a decision that has negative consequences. In general, the standard threshold when it comes to how much money someone makes each month is a minimum of three times the monthly rent.

So, a home that you rent for $2000 each month should require the combined household income to be at least $6000.

As with screening applicants for a job, it’s essential to take a look at a tenant's criminal history.

It’s your duty as a landlord to ensure that your community stays as safe as possible. You also want to avoid causing complications for other tenants that may live within the same property.

If you don’t conduct a criminal background check, you run the risk of renting to dangerous individuals who could cause your other tenants to leave the property. This will result in a large number of vacancies and have a significant impact on your overall income.

Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to get started. Our suite of background screening tools allows you to conduct comprehensive checks on your applicants, allowing you to stop problems before they start.

You can visit this resource to learn more.

Proper Background Screening Is Essential

So, be sure that you keep the above guidelines in mind. This information about background screening will be highly useful when this process comes into play.

Want to learn more about what we have to offer? Feel free to get in touch with us today and see how we can help.