Robin Doran

You or your company are proactive and you have come up with hiring plans and screening plans and you are practicing the due diligence that you need to. You have decided, in the interest of saving money and better utilizing your staff, you are going to outsource the employment screening aspect of your hiring. You decide to look for a company to do your screening and are absolutely amazed what happens when you start to search.

There are reportedly over 1800 companies that offer some type or other of background screening. So how do you narrow down your search to make sure you have the right one – the one that can work in partnership with your company and keep to the same goals you have set for yourself? How do you avoid the fakes? How do you know if the one you decide upon is one that you can trust?

There are a couple of simple steps you can take to help narrow down your search. First of all, any screening agency that is going to do background screening for your pre-employment needs, is going to need to be FCRA compliant. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is the government act that outlines the responsibilities of the employer and the screening firm. If you find a screening firm that can not give you information on the FCRA or answer your questions about the FCRA, you may want to keep looking.

You may want to be leery of websites where can get instant access to all records and information just by submitting your credit card number. First, you need to figure out if the information you are getting is FCRA complaint. Can it be used for pre-employment screening? Can they tell you about the information they are selling you? Where did they get it? How is it reported? Was it followed up on? Is there a name and phone number of a real person on the website that you can call and ask these questions of?

An employment screening agency that is FCRA compliant will be happy to explain how they work, what they do, and where the information comes from. They will also ask you to sign up with an agreement for service with their company. Generally, the purpose of the agreement is to allow that screening firm to do background checks for your company, and will take the time to talk with you about your needs and what you are looking for with your employment screening.

If you partner with a reputable firm, you should never have to ask yourself the question “Can I Trust My Background Screening Company”.

BackTrack, Inc