Although it is possible for companies, small or large, to do their own in-house background checks on potential employees, a thorough job is still difficult enough to do that plenty of background check companies are doing quite well. However, assuming you do have the time and the know-how to check out your applicants, you still may be unaware of how to find out certain things. For instance, there are plenty of ways to find out if your applicants are bankrupt or on probation, but not so many to discover what you might like about them.
This is the Internet Age, so the Internet is a big part of the solution to this problem. One thing to remember is that different people have different ideas about what constitutes positive as opposed to negative information. This is something you will have to determine for yourself or your company, and you may find both positive and negative information in the same place. If you do use an outside service for background checks, make sure to tell them that you do not want “hatchet jobs,” but honest and thorough reports that include positive observations.
Networking works
A report in USA Today in 2007 indicated that some 20% of employers use “social networking” sites to obtain information on job applicants. Today, many young people (and not so young ones, too) have profiles on such sites as Facebook and MySpace, and searches for job applicants are quite commonly run at these sites. Since these sites give users the ability to share information about themselves, an increasing number of hiring decisions will contain information gleaned there.
Different people define “positive” differently, as mentioned above, but some of the character traits that most employers are looking for can be inferred from some of the social site entries. A candidate who indicates interest in both physical and mental pursuits – hiking as well as reading, sports as well as philosophy – is showing a balanced personality, for example.
Employers can also learn a lot from the links to and from an applicant’s social site. Family connectedness is apparent here, which is a quality every employer values. Do not assume, however, that the application agrees with everyone they are linked to. On the other hand, you do want to take into consideration any positive remarks made by friends or colleagues of the applicant.
Check further and wider
Background checks these days sometimes have a tendency to be all high-tech, with information gathered primarily from the Internet. These kinds of reports are woefully inadequate, and lack the personal input that counts so much toward a good, lasting personnel decision. Make sure that you or your “background checker” takes the time to do the personal phone calling that gets you the best information.
The problem, of course, is that in this litigious era former employers are afraid of being sued for giving a bad report, and therefore give out plain-vanilla information. Some companies have a policy of giving out only date of hire, date of termination and ending salary. Others will answer a direct question about their position on rehiring the employee. There is no real standard.
This is both good and bad for you, the background investigator. Depending upon whom you speak to, you could get vastly different amounts (and kinds) of information. And former employers are not the only people to call during your investigation. Start with all of the applicant’s personal and professional references, and if you need to, extend the circle to neighbors, classmates and even family members.
Consider the source
Whether you are hearing anecdotes that are good, bad or downright ugly, you must consider the source of the information. This is important regardless of the quality and nature of the information. Friends may exaggerate good traits, while those who don’t know the applicant well may not even be aware of those traits. Negative reports can come from people who were envious of or combative with the applicant on a previous job, or from neighbors or co-workers who have some kind of “agenda.”
When you finish gathering your personal and professional references, try looking at everything as a whole to get an “overriding feel” for the person. There is only so much you can learn second- and third-hand about someone, but you should be able to get a fairly accurate portrait of someone with a little work. Your attitude throughout the process is key to this accuracy. You need to keep an open mind, look for the positive, carefully weigh the negative, consider the sources and remember that you are dealing with fallible human beings.
In conclusion, you will find out pretty much what you set out to find, so it is best to start with an open mind, an attitude of fairness and a policy of double-checking any fact that, by itself, might disqualify a candidate. You will never go wrong looking for the good in people, because there is always some to find.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Manzur Shahid
|
