Modern technology has allowed Human Resources managers to become more efficient, as digital tools vastly reduce the time needed for pre-employment screening. At the same time, the same technology allows employers and human resources consulting firms to include more types of background check in their hiring policies, which makes for better hires and decreases employee turnover. 

Let’s have a look at the background checks employers should routinely use to guarantee employee safety and make sure they only hire reliable workers. One thing is clear, if you think this is something you are not good at, you can always trust expert services like this not for profit executive search which will also come out cheap.

Criminal record checks

Police checks are mandatory only for certain jobs. However, more and more businesses have started using this type of background check lately. Why are criminal record checks catching on?

First of all, HR managers have been won over by how easy it is these days to order a national police check on someone. There’s no need to have the job applicant go down to the police station and then wait for weeks until they get their criminal history check. Such long delays are unacceptable for HR managers hard-pressed to fill job vacancies quickly.

However, with the appearance of online character check agencies (one example is Australian national character check), such verification is now quick and hassle-free. Many companies select one agency to handle their business, so logging in and filling in the form for a police check only takes minutes. The results come back via email in 2-3 days, not weeks as it was before.

There’s also another reason businesses now routinely employ such background checks online. Strict employment laws make it mandatory for business owners to guarantee workplace safety. If you don’t want to find your company embroiled in a sexual harassment lawsuit, you’d better make sure not to hire anyone with a history of sex crimes of any kind.

Also, police checks allow employers to screen for people with theft, fraud or embezzlement convictions. Why offer an ex-felon a chance to use their schemes to defraud your company?

Social media checks

Since most people spend a lot of their time on social media, checking out their accounts is an excellent means of finding out more about a job applicant. Obviously, you can read their resume and ask questions during a job interview, but people usually lie or embellish certain aspects of their lives when talking to HR people. 

Looking at a person’s social media account allows HR managers to understand what sort of person they’re dealing with, what are their hobbies, their world views, or even if they love their job.

Educational and employment history checks

These types of checks are not new. You have to mention your educational credentials and your past employment in your CV anyway. However, with modern technology recruiting agents can easily check all that information easily.

For instance, you can check the database of a certain university to see if the candidate you want to hire did actually study there.

At the same time, checking someone’s employment history is a piece of cake. A simple Google search will provide at least a phone number or the email of a company so you can get in touch with them in no time.

Such checks are always useful as you might want to inquire about the responsibilities that went with a certain job, and the reason why that person left their previous employer. You never know what you discover.