It would be fair to say that the criminal background check really has come into its own over recent years. Once upon a time it might have involved the use of private investigators and other costly services but now, no such major cost barriers exist.
Instead, it’s something that’s used by everyone. Recruiting companies are one of the biggest types that are using the technology, for the simple reason that a bad hire can cost them tens of thousands of dollars.
Of course, with more companies starting to use these services, a little more misinformation has been published about them. Through the course of this page we will now address some of the main myths and debunk them once and for all.
Myth #1 – Candidates don’t have any opportunity to explain anything negative
This is probably one of the principal concerns in the mind of most candidates. There might be occasions where they have had experiences with law enforcement – even if it was decades ago.
It’s at this point that most individuals will start to sweat and immediately think that they aren’t going to be awarded the job because of these past indiscretions.
Fortunately, it’s not like that at all. We’re not talking subjectively either, by law companies have to state if they have based their decision on the results of a background check. Candidates must be able to respond to any results that have been obtained via this approach, under the FCRA.
Myth #2 – It’s all about social media
At this point, let’s turn towards terminology. It’s called a criminal background check, and this is something that isn’t going to focus on social media in the slightest.
In fact, your social media activity can be hidden from any sort of check. As long as you turn to the highest privacy settings, no company should be able to retrieve any data about you via these means.
Therefore, if you have posted something regretful in the past, it’s a good idea to either delete or just block your profile from the world. If you do this, it’s not going to be flagged by any form of check (unless it happens to have gone viral).
Myth #3 – Companies will base their entire decision on the results of a background check
Again, this is one of those things that really couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, if one of these background checks reveals some pretty damning evidence, there’s no doubt that this is going to enter into the hiring manager’s mind as he or she starts to make a decision.
However, it’s worth realizing that in general, this is a process which is used to simply verify what you have said. Some companies will even screen you before the interview process, just to ensure that you are a “clean” character who they want within the company.
Don’t be under the impression that these checks are all what is used. As we all know, application processes for jobs are very long nowadays and it would be foolish to think that just one factor contributes to a decision.