When it comes to talent acquisition, building a trustworthy team begins with informed hiring decisions. Background screening is a critical step in this process, helping organizations mitigate risk and ensure a more secure environment. But what exactly goes into a background check, and why is understanding the underlying data so crucial?
This article marks the beginning of our Data Education series, where we'll explore the role of various information sources in constructing a more comprehensive candidate profile. Today, we're laying the groundwork by examining the core types of data that help underpin a more effective background screening and why their accuracy and breadth are so important. As we progress through the series, we will also explore how a more unified data approach, such as that embodied by the TotalVerify™ data hub from Equifax, helps centralize, connect, and offer access to differentiated and unique datasets.This centralization helps empower background screeners to deliver more efficient and insightful verifications to their clients.
At its heart, background screening is about gathering reliable information to assess a candidate's qualifications for a role. This isn't just about checking boxes; it's about forming a more holistic understanding that goes beyond a resume. The quality and comprehensiveness of the data you access can directly impact the confidence with which you make a hiring decision. A unified approach to data collection can offer a significant advantage over piecemeal retrieval, providing a more complete and nuanced understanding of an individual's history.
Let's take a look at the fundamental data categories that typically contribute to a more thorough background verification:
Ensuring you have the right person and the correct locations is the vital first step for any background check. This foundational process often involves an SSN Trace & Address History. This initial query helps verify the applicant's identity (e.g., SSN validity and issuance date), identify all names (including aliases or maiden names) associated with that SSN, and generate a comprehensive list of residential addresses (and associated counties) where the applicant has lived over a specified period. This is absolutely critical because criminal records are often decentralized and filed at the county level where an offense occurred. The data for this trace is typically sourced from credit bureaus and specialized identity verification services.
Understanding an individual's criminal history is a critical component of risk assessment in many hiring scenarios. This data helps organizations evaluate potential threats to workplace safety, company assets, and customer trust. Sources of criminal justice data can include:
National Criminal Database Searches: These cast a wide net across many jurisdictions, acting as an "index" or "pointer" system to help identify potential records from counties or states. If a potential record is found, it flags specific jurisdictions for a more definitive search.
National Sex Offender Registry Searches: These specifically help identify if an applicant is a registered sex offender in any state or territory, serving as a critical safety check.
Federal Criminal Records Searches: These help uncover crimes against the federal government, offenses on federal property, or crimes that cross state lines, which would typically not appear in state or county court records.
Court Records (County & State): These are usually the most accurate and detailed sources, directly accessing criminal proceedings (arrests, charges, convictions, and dismissals) from county courthouses and state repositories. This is a definitive source for determining if an arrest or charge led to a reportable conviction at the county and state level.
Incarceration Records: These provide details about individuals who have been confined in correctional facilities, including state prisons and thousands of county jails. Data from these sources can offer timely updates, sometimes as frequently as every 15 minutes, reflecting current confinement statuses. This unique, often near real-time, availability makes them valuable as a first step (e.g., with solutions like Equifax's Smart Screen for identifying a potential lack of records), to supplement national and federal searches, or for continuous monitoring to give early indicators of potential employee risk. It's important to remember that this data may reflect arrests but not necessarily convictions.
The value of robust criminal data lies in its depth, comprehensiveness, and timeliness, providing insights to help assess person-based risk and maintain a safer environment.
Verifying a candidate's employment history and income is fundamental for confirming their professional background, helping assess job stability, and better ensuring honesty on their application. Reliable employment data contributes significantly to experience validation, by confirming job titles, dates of employment, and responsibilities as stated by the candidate. It's also crucial for fraud detection, helping to identify discrepancies or false claims regarding past employment. This data also aids in helping predict possible retention, as studies have shown a correlation between verified employment history and higher employee retention rates, indicating that a solid work history can be a predictor of future stability.
Read more: White Paper - Retain talent and lower hiring costs with Pre-Employment Verifications
Key sources for this type of data often include:
Employer-Provided Databases: Large commercial databases that consolidate employment and income information directly from employers. These can contain hundreds of millions of active employment records, providing a vast and efficient way to verify employment details.
Direct Employer Contact: Traditional methods of reaching out to former employers for verification.
Payroll Records: For income verification, direct access to or verification through payroll systems can be highly accurate.
The ability to access verified employment and income data efficiently can help lead to significant savings in hiring costs and improved retention rates.
Research indicates that a significant number of job applicants falsify information on their applications, with a considerable portion of these misrepresentations concerning their educational qualifications. With more than 3,200 diploma mills awarding up to 500 fake PhD degrees monthly, verifying educational achievements has taken on an added importance. Education verification helps employers:
Confirm Qualifications: Validate degrees, certifications, and dates of attendance.
Detect Fraud: Identify "diploma mills" or altered documentation, helping protect the integrity of the hiring process.
Assess Foundational Knowledge: Education can be a proxy for a candidate's ability to learn and apply themselves.
Primary sources for education verification include:
National Student Clearinghouse (NSC): A leading non-profit organization that provides verification services for higher education institutions. Their database often covers a vast majority of students enrolled in public and private institutions.
Direct Educational Institution Contact: Reaching out directly to universities, colleges, or high schools for verification.
Leveraging education data can help you make more informed hiring decisions and better safeguard against credential fraud.
While criminal, employment, and education data form the bedrock of many background checks, the landscape of screening can extend to other specialized areas depending on industry, role, and job requirements. These might include:
Identity Verification: Helping ensure a candidate is who they claim to be, often involving checks for synthetic identities or identity theft.
Drug and Health Screening: For roles requiring specific physical capabilities or adherence to drug-free workplace policies.
Driving Records (MVR): Essential for positions involving driving company vehicles or operating machinery.
Professional Licenses and Certifications: Verification for regulated professions such as those in healthcare, financial services and legal.
Social Media Screening: In some cases, organizations may review public social media activity for insights into professional conduct, though this area requires careful consideration of privacy and legal concerns.
Each of these additional screening components utilizes specific data sources to help provide a more complete risk assessment where applicable.
While each data category offers unique insights, the true power of effective background screening lies in the integration of these diverse sources. When criminal, employment, and education data can be accessed and analyzed together, screeners can often develop a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of each candidate. This more holistic view contributes to:
Enhanced Risk Mitigation: A multi-faceted approach allows for more effective identification of potential risks.
Improved Efficiency: Centralized access to various data types streamlines the screening process.
More Confident Decision-Making: A richer data landscape leads to better-informed hiring choices.
Higher Data Quality and Better Accuracy: Relying on aggregated and consistently updated sources helps reduce inaccuracies and provide a clearer candidate picture.
Equifax's TotalVerify™ Data Hub helps exemplify how a more unified approach can better streamline access to core criminal, employment, and education data, providing a more comprehensive view for enhanced decision-making.
This introductory article is just the beginning of our exploration into the critical role of data in background screening. In the upcoming installments of this series, we will dive deeper into each of these fundamental data sources, exploring their nuances and best practices for utilization. To help empower your screening with more comprehensive data insights, contact us today.