Employment verification
First, employers should verify the employment record of the prospective employee in the pre-employment screening. If the employment record is falsified, you will have saved your company significant time and money on a faulty employee. It is not uncommon for resumes to have extra information or for applicants to forget to identify whether they were terminated or whether they quit. Perform an adequate check on the applicant’s previous employment to verify (1) if the record is correct and (2) the quality of the employee’s performance.
Education verification
The educational record is a large part of an applicant’s resume. There are education checks available to employers to insure your prospective employee is honest in reporting education and educational standing. Statistical reports have shown that applicants falsify their educational record more so than any other field in the application process. The education of an employee may affect their performance in the workplace.
Credit check
For prospective employees in financial positions, it would be beneficial to verify how well they manage their own money before hiring them to a position to handle the company’s money. This can be performed for accounting positions as well as for those employees entrusted with petty cash or a company credit card. This will not always be a decisive factor in how well they can perform the duties of their position; but if you want to be sure that company money will be dealt with properly, a credit check would be useful.
Motor Vehicle Records
Checking your applicant’s driving record can insure your company won’t be held liable for accidents in company cars. Although accidents are sometimes inevitable and a background check of a driving record will not prevent an accident, it will tell if the applicant is a poor driver.
Criminal Background Checks
By performing criminal background checks you may be able to avoid violence and even theft in the workplace. You may perform state, county, and federal criminal record searches. County checks are highly recommended because they are comprehensive in the reports. If performing a criminal background check in the pre-employment screening, it is recommended to check the counties of all the residences of the applicant. By performing a criminal background check in the pre-employment screeningprocess, you will have shown your how thoroughness of your company and the diligence in the hiring process.
Drug Screening
It is estimated that drug and alcohol use costs employers billions of dollars annually in lost time, health care and worker’s compensation costs. It is also estimated that nearly 60 percent of accidents on the job are related to drug or alcohol usage. Although drug screening may seem awkward and somewhat embarrassing to the prospective employees, it will serve you best to perform the test. By screening for drug and excessive alcohol usage, you will save your company money in the long run.
Although it may seem that, in general, people are honest when applying for positions, you can filter out a poor prospective employee using pre-employment screening. Even though they may have otherwise seemed like an excellent choice, you will have saved your company valuable time, money and energy. Perform thorough checks on vital positions, because that employee will be vital to your company.
By Amber Callister