5 Ways to Improve Your Background Checking Process for Your Candidates

Background checking is one of the final stages of a candidate’s recruitment process. It allows the employer to ensure whether their potential hire is clear of fraud or any activities that may harm the company in the future. 

There are several ways to ensure that you are hiring the best candidate for your company, from the screening process to cross-checking their interviews and the resumes they presented. To help your search, this article lists five helpful tips to improve your background checking process for your next hire. 

#1: Run Through Their Duties and Responsibilities

Utilizing a candidate’s job description to perform your background checks can simplify and narrow down your process. Depending on the responsibilities a candidate is being hired for, taking note of their primary responsibility will give you an insight on what to look for when conducting background checks. 

For example, suppose you’re hiring a candidate who is likely to deal with your company’s finances and transactions. In that case, it is wise to conduct a credit check to see if your candidate is financially responsible. 

By focusing on their main responsibility for the role you’re hiring them for, you can pick out specific aspects of the job to look into the candidate during the recruitment process. 

#2: Identify Patterns Using Background Data

You can use the background data provided by your candidate to help determine their capabilities. Such background data are employment history, academic history, and personal references. 

This information allows you to see patterns with the candidate that may show potential issues such as frequent moves, career changes, and other aspects that could indicate that the candidate is not a suitable long-term candidate. 

During the recruitment process, you can also look for aspects that show an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and how they respond to difficult situations. 

#3: Communicate With Your Candidate

As a recruiter, you must establish effective communication with your candidates and ensure that you treat them properly. 

If you happen to encounter issues during your background search, do not hesitate to discuss such matters with your candidates. Discussing the issue allows your candidates to explain themselves further and enlighten you about your concern. 

You can also use this chance to get to know your candidate better regarding their previous work experiences or personal ethics and how those will fit into your company’s niche. 

#4: Exhaust Your Resources

Recruitment can be challenging as it opens you to candidates that could strengthen or weaken your company. When hiring, it is important to exhaust all your resources to ensure that your future hire is clear of any issues that may place your company at risk. 

There are many types of resources you can look into when conducting a background search on your potential hires:

• Educational Background
• Employment History
• Credit History
• Driving Records
• Criminal Records
• Personal References

Taking the time to check your resources thoroughly will increase your chances of acquiring a candidate that is best suited for the role and can ultimately help your company in the long run. 

#5: Gather As Much Information As You Can During The Interview

Asking the right questions will help you determine whether the candidate will be a strong asset to your company in the future. Such questions will also allow you to figure out what kind of employee your candidate is before conducting the background search.

You can ask your candidates questions such as:

• How do you work with your peers? 
• Have you achieved something at work that goes beyond your job description?
• What is your definition of hard work?
• What are you content in doing every day for the company?

These are only a few of many interview questions that you can ask your candidates to help you understand the kind of employees they are and how they perform at work. 

Hire The Best Employees With Confidence

Hiring the wrong candidate can negatively affect your company, whether it be your company’s reputation or finances. Through these tips, you can increase your chances of acquiring top talent by improving your background checking process. 

As a recruiter, you must filter candidates that will contribute to a healthy work environment, benefiting your company in the long run. If you find such methods exhaustive, you can always seek a talent acquisition provider to guide your company in conducting proper background checks on your candidates.