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When you look at activities in your life it’s pretty clear when something is working. You know your washer and dryer are doing its job when your clothes are clean. Your coffee pot is keeping up with (high) demand when it makes a hot cup for you in the morning. But some things are less clear. How about your background check program? How do you know when your process for screening candidates is really successful? As important as this is, most of us don’t even think about it until a formal program analysis is requested – maybe once or twice a year.

Topics: Employment Background Checks, National Criminal Database Search, Social Security Trace

At Verified Credentials, we have all departments housed under one roof. Everyone working together in the same place means we can walk down the hall to discuss solutions for our clients in person. With internal teams, what you get is: Quicker decisions from real-time, in-person meetings, and no lag times to schedule conferences with off-site locations in other time zones to get the job done. Overall synchronicity of service with better training and consistent processes, avoiding disjointed programs or operations that could cause errors or quality issues. Better relationships with people who know you and your business well, avoiding confusion for candidates and your staff.

Topics: Employment Background Checks, Candidate Experience, Technology

Work smarter, not harder. We’ve all heard the phrase and it’s certainly a great goal, but how do you actually do it? Well, if you’re an HR professional, working smarter means finding new ways to streamline your hiring activities, including pre-employment background checks. By automating portions of your screening process, you can: Save time Reduce errors and gaps of information Devote more energy to your other responsibilities 

Topics: Report Scoring, Efficiency, Employment Background Checks, Candidate Self-Service

We’ve seen a lot in 35 years. The landscape of background screening has changed drastically: from when Verified Credentials was founded in a one-room office with a typewriter and two phones, to a powerful engine of information connected with people and technology we are today. The result has been an astonishing push into the future in a matter of years.

Topics: Employment Background Checks, Company News

As an HR professional, you’re tasked with making sure every new employee is the right fit for your company. You need to verify that candidates will meet your company’s standards, which is why you conduct background checks. You may even perform recurring checks periodically to confirm that the employee still aligns with your company’s standards. While searches and verifications in your background check packages may remain fairly constant, new ways to manage background check processes can lead to areas of improvement. When was the last time you reevaluated the quality of your pre-employment screening processes?

Topics: Efficiency, Employment Background Checks, Candidate Self-Service, Employment Verifications

Sex offenses are among the most serious crimes a background check can uncover. Recently, we have heard from some HR professionals who thought they are doing enough to find sex offender records with local and national criminal searches. In some instances, they expect a National Criminal Database Search, with all of its vast sources, to include all sex offender registries and sources. That is not always the case. With that misinformation in mind, a separate sex offender registry background check may seem redundant.

Topics: Employment Background Checks, National Criminal Database Search, National Sex Offender Registry

With a new year approaching, you may be thinking about changing what may not be working, from recruiting strategies to outsourced human resource functions. When frustrations with your background screening process occur, it may leave you thinking, “There has to be a better way.” You want to identify a company that operates with transparency, invests time to build your relationship, and delivers the service and support needed for a successful process. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to sort through the different facts and features for an honest-to-goodness comparison. We’ve identified a few tips to help you size up your options if you’re looking for a new background screening company for 2019:

Topics: Employment Background Checks, Candidate Experience, Employment Verifications, Academic Verifications

Watch any crime show on TV and you’re almost guaranteed to see people checking a crime scene for fingerprints. You’ll watch as they enter those fingerprints into some futuristic database and magically get an exact match including name, address and the suspect’s picture. But TV isn’t real life. While fingerprints can certainly help identify individuals, law enforcement fingerprint databases may not be the ideal screening option for every employer. So, when HR professionals choose to rely solely on state or FBI fingerprints for background screening, they might be missing out on critical information. Here’s how fingerprint background checks stack up against a comprehensive report from a reliable background screening company like Verified Credentials.

Topics: Employment Background Checks, National Criminal Database Search

Resume fraud, or accidental mistakes in a candidate’s self-disclosed history are all too familiar in the workforce today. In fact, in the last year, we found discrepancies in nearly half of our employment verifications. With this issue being so widespread it’s no question that verifying the job and education histories of job candidates is something many organizations require before making a move to hire. So, some might ask,  “How can I improve my job history and academic verification process to combat resume fraud?” Verifications seem simple and straightforward. The goal is to confirm the information a candidate has listed on their resume or disclosed upfront for a pre-employment background check. But let's talk about three factors you may not have thought about: 1. Verification process – how can your screening company help you find as much information as possible? 2. What you verify – is date/title or highest degree enough? Take a look at how other employers expand verification criteria. 3. Sources matter – are your verifications confirmed by an authorized source?

Topics: Employment Background Checks, Employment Verifications, Academic Verifications

  I’m sure you know that background screening terminology, services, and technology can be a little confusing. Like many other HR professionals, you may be looking for a background screening company to educate you about what exactly you can expect in their background checks. For many reasons, including how screening services are named across the industry, questions can still remain. That’s not the only problem. You don’t want to wrongly identify what service will get you the background information needed.  We have seen some employers have difficulty deciphering labels for a few searches in particular, best summed up with a central question: What is the difference between the “national” criminal database and the “federal” criminal history search? In many other situations, it is completely reasonable to assume that the words “national” and “federal” are interchangeable. Think about it, “national” parks are on “federal” lands and the “Federal” Bureau of Investigations” deals with matters of “national” security. It quickly becomes clear how industry jargon and legal distinctions can confuse HR professionals when it comes time to build a background check package. Well, when it comes to background screening, “national” and “federal” are actually quite a bit different. Understanding the difference can be beneficial to your background screening process as the terms indicate different sources that return very different results. Keep reading below and we’ll tell you exactly how these types of searches differ. Mistaking one for the other is not an error you’ll want to risk.

Topics: Employment Background Checks, National Criminal Database Search, Federal Criminal History Search