Criminal Background Check Trends

During the hiring process, most recruiters are expected to complete a criminal background check on all potential employees.

Not only do background checks help recruiters and employers avoid making costly bad hires, but they also can help companies find the most qualified candidate for the position. Because of their growing popularity, many companies are looking for ways to improve their background checking procedures.

In addition, there are a number of trends recruiters can expect to see when it comes to background checks.

The top trends, as compiled by Onrec.com, are:

• Quality - More employers are realizing that the quality of a background check can make all the difference. One mistake can gravely cost the company or the potential candidate for a lengthy amount of time. Because of this, most reputable background check providers will begin to have a certified quality process in place.
• Technology expansion - Just as technology has begun to revolutionize background checks in the United States, expect it to do the same to background checks throughout the country. Many countries will begin to use automated databases in order to get quick access to information.
• Expungement laws - Given the record number of people in prison, the scarce job prospects for previously convicted persons and the current state of the economy, there will be more of a focus on expungement laws.
• Falsification - Due to high unemployment and major layoffs, job seekers are likely to become more desperate, which will lead to an increase in the use of fake credentials, degrees, references and exaggeration of experience. This will make background checks even more important.
• Recurring background checks - As the threat of identity theft and employee fraud increases, there also will be an increased need to conduct post-hire background checks in order to continue to verify the legitimacy of employee credentials.
• References - New online technology has emerged that allows candidate references to provide competency-based behavioral feedback on applicants that produce high-quality feedback. These types of tools will make reference checking more prevalent.
• Credit check limitations - There is currently a movement underway to change the law that allows background check companies to check a prospective employee's credit during the hiring process. Many officials have argued that an applicant's credit score cannot predict future performance or the risk of inappropriate behavior. Washington, Connecticut and Hawaii have already passed laws that regulate the use of credit screening during background checks.