About Pre Employment Background Screening
Whether you are aware or not, you have probably been subjected to a pre employment background screening before you were accepted in your previous and current jobs. If you are currently applying for a job, then you should be aware about pre employment background screening. Learning about the pre employment background screening process gives you hands up on what to expect. Being prepared for a pre employment background screening will also increase the odds of you getting that job.
You should also be ready during interviews, right? What if your potential employer asks you about information about your credit report? Are you ready to answer? Some people haven’t seen their credit report for years. How would you be sure that you are not a victim of identity theft? If you have checked your credit report before hand, you wouldn’t be surprised come interview time. You will also have time to fix whatever dispute you’ll see in your credit report. You’ll know how to explain things if you knew about such information before hand.
A lot of people may ask why pre employment background screening is required by companies. First, not all companies require a thorough pre employment background screening. Some companies just do character referencing and check on previous employee records and educational records. On the other hand, some companies hire a third party company to conduct a thorough pre employment background screening.
Some jobs are required to have a pre employment background screening because of the nature of their jobs. Take for example, if your job has something to do with children, companies would require you to be subjected to a pre employment background screening. Because of the increasing incidents of terrorism, child abduction, negligent hiring lawsuits, companies are beginning to be cautious about who they hire. It would only be wise on their part to require applicants to submit to a pre employment background screening to ensure they are hiring the right candidates.
On the part of the applicant, privacy laws have been enacted to protect them from pre employment background screening. Know that the information needed, gathered, and reported during a pre employment background screening are only limited to information that are public and are created by the government. Such information would be an employment credit report, driving record, social security number, education records, court records, bankruptcy history, previous employers, personal references, medical records, character references, and sometimes neighbor interviews. Some companies are also beginning to look at profiles in social networking websites like Facebook, Friendster, and MySpace.
What you have to do when you know you are about to be subjected to a pre employment background screening is to make sure you check all your records. Get a copy of your credit report, driving records, and if you have previous court cases. It’s important that when asked you’d be able to provide correct answers. Otherwise, your company might see this as dishonesty and this may affect their decision in hiring you.