雇主在背景调查中寻找什么？

当涉及到聘用前的审查程序时，每个雇主都会以不同的方式处理事情，这取决于他们的规模和资源、他们的行业以及他们需要填补的一个或多个工作。雇主可以订购多种类型的背景报告服务，所有这些服务都提供来自各种来源的不同数据类型。一般来说，招聘前调查将检查犯罪记录，核实简历信息，例如过去的工作、教育证书和专业执照或证书。也许评估其他类型的信息，例如驾驶记录或信用记录。

请继续阅读以了解有关就业背景调查中显示的内容的更多信息。

就业背景调查

 雇主出于各种原因对其候选人进行历史检查。例如，通过审查一个人的犯罪历史，招聘经理可以评估候选人在获得手头工作时可能带来的风险水平。在某些情况下，一个人的犯罪历史甚至可能使他们无法从事特定类型的工作，例如一名注册的性犯罪者面试教职。另一方面，就业、教育和证书的验证检查是帮助雇主确定其候选人是否有资格胜任手头工作的重要步骤。

雇主可以并且将会关注什么

 下面，我们回顾了最常见的员工背景验证类型，以及每张支票通常会返回的信息类型。请注意，虽然雇主通常可以将下面突出显示的信息作为就业前流程的一部分，但这种特权并不是绝对的。雇主在进行搜索时必须遵循《公平信用报告法》(FCRA) 的原则，其中包括在调查对象过去之前获得其许可的非常详细的步骤。

此外，围绕每个类别中的信息的具体法律法规可能因州或地方司法管辖区而异。我们强调了往往受到更多监管并因此受到限制的检查。

工作经历

工作经历是招聘经理在评估空缺候选人时考虑的首要项目之一。这个想法是，某人的就业经历可以很好地表明他们对特定工作的资格。有些工作要求候选人在特定行业或职位类型中具有特定年限的工作经验。在其他情况下，雇主几乎不会特别关注工作经历。但是，他们仍会考虑工作经历来确定申请人可以为工作带来哪些技能或实践经验。

就业验证检查的工作方式与许多其他类型的背景调查不同。没有数据库跟踪人们多年来工作过的地方。虽然候选人在简历和/或工作申请中自行提供这些信息，但验证检查是雇主审查该信息是否不准确或虚假的机会——鉴于简历上不诚实的普遍性，这是重要的一步。

由于没有工作历史数据库，这些检查总是涉及与以前的雇主的直接联系。在 GOOHO.CN，我们代表招聘团队联系过去的雇主，以核实简历上的关键信息，例如工作日期和职位。

信用检查

 一些雇主将候选人的信用记录视为就业前检查过程的一部分。这些类型的检查在与金融相关的工作中很普遍，例如银行或股票交易，以评估候选人的财务习惯。一些雇主认为，通过评估一个人在个人生活中如何处理金钱，他们将知道如何对这个人在专业领域的整体财务责任进行评分。显示信用不佳的信用检查有时可能是雇主担任涉及账户、处理资金或其他财务事务的角色的风险标志。

但是，雇主在使用此类筛选时应谨慎行事。虽然金融知识和责任感是某些工作的基本技能，但近年来关于候选人的信用记录可以为此类职位提供多少洞察力的争论一直存在。医疗账单、失业，尤其是学生贷款是可能对个人信用产生不利影响的因素。特别是在导致全国失业率大幅飙升的 COVID-19 大流行之后，因信用不良而取消某人的资格可能只会加剧问题。

还值得注意的是，出于就业目的的信用评估在某些地区是非法的。在 11 个州——加利福尼亚州、科罗拉多州、康涅狄格州、特拉华州、夏威夷州、伊利诺伊州、马里兰州、内华达州、俄勒冈州、佛蒙特州和华盛顿州——以及其他几个司法管辖区（包括华盛顿特区、纽约市、芝加哥市和费城），雇主在他们在做出招聘决定时使用信用筛选的能力受到限制。雇主在考虑此类评估时应了解当地和州法律。

犯罪记录

刑事搜查是大多数验证过程的基石。这些记录可能包括“危险信号”，例如暴力犯罪、性犯罪、贪污定罪、酒后驾车或其他可能使某人成为危险雇员的历史。雇主会寻找此类信息来保护他们的合法利益，以及他们的客户、其他员工、他们的财务状况等。例如，招聘财务账户和敏感个人信息的雇主希望避免雇用有贪污或身份盗窃历史的候选人，以免他们利用自己的职位犯下类似的罪行。如果他们雇用的人最终因其在工作中的行为而面临进一步的指控，那么在填补工作时忽略此类相关犯罪历史的雇主可能会面临疏忽招聘诉讼。

在 backgrounchecks.com，我们提供各种犯罪搜索，包括县检查、州存储库搜索、联邦法院搜索以及对我们专有的多司法管辖区数据库的即时搜索。

与普遍看法相反，犯罪信息没有单一的中央数据库。有关刑事指控或定罪的记录通常在县法院级别归档。尽管如此，它们也可能在美国地方法院（在联邦犯罪的情况下）提交或报告到州存储库（在州记录搜索的情况下）。我们建议进行多方面的犯罪调查，在候选人最近居住的地方进行县检查。我们还提供对美国 OneSEARCH 数据库的搜索，其中包括来自所有 50 个州和所有美国领土的超过 6.5 亿条犯罪记录。

驾驶记录

在招聘涉及操作车辆的工作时，雇主通常会将驾驶记录检查作为其候选人审查过程的一部分。虽然机动车辆历史并非与所有工作都相关，但它是送货空缺、卡车运输工作、涉及操作重型工程机械的职位以及其他类似工作的最关键指标之一。不安全驾驶的历史——从大量超速罚单到吊销执照和酒后驾车——对于填补这些类型职位的雇主来说是一种安全和责任风险。

参考

虽然有时与就业验证检查混淆，但参考检查有不同的目的。就业验证决定了简历信息是否准确，而专业推荐人是能够说明候选人性格、工作表现、技能和整体工作风格的人。通常，雇主会要求候选人在工作申请中列出两到三个推荐人。参考检查涉及直接联系这些人以了解有关候选人的更多信息。

验证检查

除了工作经历和参考资料，验证检查还可以检查一个人的教育证书和专业执照。教育检查涉及联系学院或大学以验证候选人是否就读，以及出席日期、获得的学位或证书，以及与这些学位相关的任何荣誉。

专业执照验证确保一个人持有在特定州的特定领域工作所需的执照。示例包括教学执照、执业法律执照、护理执照或行医执照。

雇主不能看的东西

虽然不同类型的就业背景调查可以揭示有关候选人的很多信息，但有些类型的信息是不允许雇主访问的——即使作为检查的一部分，似乎会泄露这些信息。例子包括：

学校记录

虽然教育验证将表明候选人是否获得了他们在简历中声称的大学学位，但这些检查不会显示完整的学校记录。例如，雇主不会知道候选人选修了哪些课程，或者他们获得了什么样的成绩。雇主也无法访问更早的学校记录（例如高中）。

军事记录

私人雇主无法使用任何类型的历史检查服务来访问一个人的军事记录。虽然候选人可以自愿提供有关其兵役的信息（如果适用），但雇主不应计划审查该信息、检查有关人员的军事历史的详细信息或寻找退伍的证据。

病历

通过员工或候选人调查收集的大部分信息在技术上属于公共记录的一部分。病历不属于这一类：它们是私人文件，隐私由医患保密保证。雇主不应期望通过背景筛查了解病史。

犯罪史

虽然犯罪历史是许多就业前审查协议的核心，但这并不意味着雇主可以根据个人犯罪记录的全部范围自由访问或做出招聘决定？例如，已密封或删除的记录不应出现在检查报告中，也不能用于禁止某人就业。许多州也有法律限制在招聘中使用逮捕记录，规定犯罪历史回顾期为七年，或两者兼而有之。雇主应注意了解其业务所在地的法律，以避免在他们如何在招聘决定中使用犯罪细节时出现任何合规问题。

如何准备就业背景调查

询问“雇主在背景调查中寻找什么？” 对于希望为就业筛选过程做好准备的求职者来说，这是一个明智的策略。以下是候选人可以记住的几个步骤，以避免出现任何意外：

了解以前的雇主对您的评价

与普遍的假设相反，当要求进行就业验证检查时，大多数雇主将坚持只回答简单的事实问题。职位名称、工作日期、离职原因、重新雇用的资格：这些话题是人力资源经理愿意回答的客观话题。更多自由形式的问题，例如过去雇主对性格或职业道德的评论，是具有挑战性的领域。人力资源经理或前任主管通常会拒绝回答他们，以避免之前员工提出诽谤的法律诉讼。

获取您的记录

通常鼓励关注验证过程的求职者对自己进行调查。在 GOOHO.CN，我们甚至提供自助检查服务。该策略为候选人提供了一个机会，可以查看他们的记录并预览他们的招聘经理将看到的内容。进行自我检查可能是确保清除已完成或只是为了让您安心的一种有价值的方式。

检查你的信用

就像犯罪历史的自我检查一样，信用自我检查可以让雇主了解雇主可能会看到什么以及他们可以从这些信息中得出什么结论。求职者有时会使用这些自我评估来确定他们是否需要对他们的历史提供任何解释，这可能有助于为不太讨人喜欢的结果提供背景。请注意，每位消费者每年都有权从三个信用报告机构（Equifax、Experian 和 TransUnion）中的每一个获得免费的信用报告。

经常问的问题

什么可以取消求职者的背景调查资格？

这个问题的答案因雇主而异。雇主经营的行业、行业法规、州和地方法律、相关工作、具体公司政策，甚至个别招聘经理的宽大处理等因素都会影响答案。审查过程中最常见的取消资格往往是严重的重罪定罪（暴力犯罪、性犯罪等）或求职者的公然不诚实。几乎无论是哪个行业或公司，这些因素都被视为“危险信号”。但是，如前所述，其他因素也可能被取消资格，具体取决于工作，例如危险驾驶历史（涉及驾驶的工作）或信用不良（与财务相关的职位）。

背景调查如何验证就业？

在 GOOHO.CN，我们通过联系候选人过去的雇主并询问有关就业日期、职位和其他信息的关键问题来进行就业验证。

背景调查可以揭示什么？

“背景调查”实际上是对各种数据源的多次检查或搜索，旨在提供求职者过去的详细而广泛的视图。招聘前筛选公司可以检查一个人的犯罪历史、驾驶历史、过去的工作、教育和专业执照。它还包括参考资料、民事法庭历史、地址历史、社会安全号码、别名/别名、信用、破产历史、社交媒体存在等。

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When it comes to the pre-employment vetting processes, every employer will approach things differently, depending on their size and resources, their industry, and the job or jobs they need to fill. There are many types of background reporting services an employer can order, all of which provide different data types from various sources. Generally speaking, a pre-hire investigation will check for a criminal record, verify resume information, such as past employment, educational credentials, and professional licenses or certifications. Perhaps assess other types of information, such as a driving record or credit history.

Read on to learn more about what shows up on an employment background check.

The Employment Background Check

 Employers run history checks on their candidates for various reasons. For instance, by reviewing a person’s criminal past, a hiring manager can assess the level of risk that a candidate might pose if given the job at hand. In some cases, a person’s criminal past may even preclude them from working a specific type of job, such as a registered sex offender interviewing for a teaching position. On the other hand, verification checks of employment, education, and credentials are an essential step for helping employers determine whether their candidates are qualified for the job at hand.

What Employers Can and Will Look At

 Below, we have recapped the most common types of employee background verification, as well as the kind of information each of those checks will typically return. Do note that, while employers are typically allowed to consider the information highlighted below as part of the pre-employment process, that privilege is not absolute. Employers must follow the tenets of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when conducting searches, which include very detailed steps for obtaining a subject’s permission before looking into their past.

Besides, the specific laws and regulations surrounding the information in each category may vary depending on state or local jurisdiction. We have highlighted checks that tend to be more regulated and, therefore, limited.

Work history

Work history is one of the top items that hiring managers consider when assessing candidates for a vacancy. The thought is that someone's employment experience can offer a good sense of how qualified they are for a particular job. Some jobs call for candidates to have a specified number of years' experience working in a specific industry or type of position. In other cases, employers will not be nearly as particular about work history. However, they will still consider employment history to determine what skills or hands-on experience applicants may bring to the job.

Employment verification checks work differently than many other types of background checks. No database tracks where people have worked over the years. While candidates self-provide this information on their resumes and/or job applications, verification checks are an opportunity for employers to vet that information for inaccuracies or falsehood—an important step given the commonality of dishonesty on resumes.

Since there is no job history database, these checks always involve direct contact with previous employers. At backgroundchecks.com, we contact past employers on behalf of the hiring team to verify key information on the resume, such as dates of employment and job title.

Credit check

 Some employers consider a candidate’s credit history as part of the pre-employment check process. These types of checks are prevalent in finance-related jobs, such as banking or stock trading, to assess a candidate’s financial habits. Some employers believe that, by evaluating how a person handles money in their personal life, they will know how to grade that person’s overall financial responsibility in the professional realm. A credit check that reveals poor credit can sometimes be a sign of risk for an employer filling a role involving accounts, handling money, or other financial matters.

Employers should tread carefully when using this type of screening, however. While financial literacy and responsibility are essential skills for some jobs, there has been some debate in recent years about how much insight a candidate’s credit record can lend to this type of position. Medical bills, unemployment, and especially student loans are factors that can affect a person’s credit detrimentally. Particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused substantial spikes in unemployment rates nationwide, disqualifying someone for bad credit may be seen as only exacerbating the problem.

It is also worth noting that credit assessments for employment purposes are illegal in some areas. In 11 states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington – plus several other jurisdictions (including Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia), employers are heavily restricted in their ability to use credit screenings when making hiring decisions. Employers should be aware of their local and state laws when considering this type of assessment.

Criminal records

Criminal searches are the cornerstone of most verification processes. These records can include “red flags” such as violent offenses, sex crimes, embezzlement convictions, DUIs, or other history that could render someone a risky hire. Employers will look for this type of information to protect their legal interests, as well as their customers, other employees, their finances, and more. For example, an employer hiring for financial accounts and sensitive personal information would want to avoid hiring a candidate with a history of embezzlement or identity theft, lest they take advantage of their position to commit similar crimes. Employers who overlook this type of relevant criminal history in filling a job may face negligent hiring lawsuits if the person they hire ends up facing further accusations for their behavior on the job.

At backgrounchecks.com, we offer various criminal searches, including a county check, a state repository search, a federal court search, and an instant search of our proprietary multi-jurisdictional database.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no single, central database for criminal information. Records about criminal charges or convictions are often filed at the county courthouse level. Still, they may also be filed at U.S. District Courts (in the case of federal crimes) or reported into state repositories (in the case of state records searches). We recommend a multi-faceted criminal exploration, incorporating county checks in places where the candidate has lived recently. We also offer searches of our US OneSEARCH database, which includes more than 650 million criminal records from all 50 states and all U.S. territories.

Driving record

When hiring for jobs that involve operating vehicles, employers will often include driving record checks as part of their candidate vetting process. While motor vehicle history is not relevant to all jobs, it is one of the most critical metrics for delivery vacancies, trucking jobs, positions that involve operating heavy construction machinery, and other similar types of employment. A history of unsafe driving – from lots of speeding tickets to suspended licenses and DUI convictions – is a safety and liability risk for employers filling these types of positions.

References

Though sometimes confused with employment verification checks, reference checks serve a different purpose. Employment verifications determine whether resume information is accurate, while professional references are people who can speak to a candidate’s character, job performance, skills, and overall work style. Often, employers will ask that candidates list two to three references as part of the job application. Reference checks involve contacting those individuals directly to learn more about the candidate.

Verification Checks

Beyond work history and references, verification checks can also check a person’s educational credentials and professional licenses. Education checks involve contacting a college or university to verify that a candidate attended, as well as dates of attendance, degrees or certificates received, and any honors attached to those degrees.

Professional license verifications ensure that a person holds the license(s) necessary to work in a specific field in a particular state. Examples include teaching licenses, licenses to practice law, nursing licenses, or licenses to practice medicine.

What Employers Cannot look At

While different types of employment background checks can reveal much information about a candidate, there are certain types of information that employers are not allowed to access—even as part of checks that might seem to reveal that information. Examples include:

School records

While education verifications will indicate whether a candidate earned the college degree they claimed on their resume - these checks won’t show a full school record. Employers won’t know which courses the candidate took, for instance, or what grades they received. School records from further back—high school, for example—are also not accessible to employers.

Military records

There is no type of history checking service available to private employers to access a person’s military record. While candidates may voluntarily offer information about their military service, if applicable, employers should not plan to vet that information, check for details about a person’s military history, or look for evidence of discharges.

Medical records

Much of the information gleaned through an employee or candidate investigation is technically part of the public record. Medical records do not fall into this category: they are private documents, with privacy ensured by doctor-patient confidentiality. Employers should not expect to learn about medical history through background screening.

Criminal history

While criminal history is at the heart of many pre-employment vetting protocols, that doesn’t mean employers have free reign to access or make hiring decisions based on the full scope of a person’s criminal record?. Records that have been sealed or expunged, for instance, should not feature on a check report and cannot be used to bar a person from employment. Many states also have laws that restrict the use of arrest records in hiring, that specify a criminal history lookback period of seven years, or both. Employers should take care to learn the laws of where they do business to avoid any compliance issues in how they use criminal details in their hiring decisions.

How to Prepare for an Employment Background Check

Asking “What do employers look for in a background check?” is a smart strategy for job seekers wishing to prepare themselves for the employment screening process. Here are a few steps that candidates can keep in mind to avoid any surprises:

Understand what previous employers might say about you

Contrary to widespread assumption, most employers will stick to answering only simple point-of-fact questions when called for an employment verification check. Job titles, employment dates, the reason for leaving, eligibility for rehire: these topics are objective talking points that HR managers are willing to answer. More freeform questions, such as a past employer's comment on character or work ethic, are challenging territory. HR managers or former supervisors will often decline to answer them to avoid legal claims of defamation from their previous employees.

Obtain your records

Job seekers concerned about the verification process are often encouraged to run investigations on themselves. At backgroundchecks.com, we even offer a self-check service. This strategy provides an opportunity for a candidate to see their record and get a preview of what their hiring manager will see. Running a self-check can be a valuable way to make sure that an expungement has gone through or simply to achieve peace of mind.

Check your credit

Like a self-check for criminal history, a self-check for credit can give a sense of what employers might see and what conclusions they could draw from that information. Job seekers will sometimes use these self-assessments to determine if they need to provide any explanations about their history that may help provide context for less-than-flattering results. Note that every consumer is entitled to a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) each year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can disqualify a job candidate on a background check?

The answer to this question will vary from one employer to the next. Factors such as the industry where the employer operates, industry regulations, state and local laws, the job in question, specific company policies, and even the leniency of individual hiring managers can affect the answer. The most common disqualifiers in the vetting process tend to be either severe felony convictions (violent crimes, sex offenses, etc.) or blatant dishonesty of the job seeker. These factors register as “red flags” almost no matter the industry or company. However, as previously discussed, other factors can be disqualifiers as well, depending on the job—such as a history of dangerous driving, for jobs that involve driving, or bad credit, for financial-related positions.

How does a background check verify employment?

At backgroundchecks.com, we conduct employment verifications by contacting a candidate’s past employers and asking key questions about employment dates, job titles, and other information.

What can be revealed in a background check?

A “background check” is, in fact, multiple checks or searches of various data sources, intending to provide a detailed and wide-reaching view of a job candidate’s past. A pre-hire screening company can check a person’s criminal past, driving history, past employment, education, and professional licensing. It also includes references, civil court history, address history, Social Security Number, aliases/alternate names, credit, bankruptcy history, social media presence, and more.