Cheezhead

As a recruiter, it is your job to identify the most qualified and desirable candidate and snatch them up as quickly as possible. But you just got a letter from the head of HR telling you that you must conduct a background check before you officially hire them. You just know that the time it takes to conduct the check can cause your candidate to change their mind and you immediately see red. Please let your resident background screening specialist comfort you. Let me become your friend. You know that your company isn’t trying to sabotage you. They want to make sure that they exercise proper due diligence before placing your candidate in your expert care.

My first advice is not to find the cheapest and quickest background check known to man. You will have wasted even the short amount of time and smallest amount of money trying to appease the suits in your organization. You might also be exposing your company to unnecessary risk. Go through the proper protocols. Don’t take shortcuts. If it takes a couple extra days to conduct a thorough criminal records search and to contact past employers, do it. It will save you in the long run. Identifying adverse information now will save you time, money and potential embarrassment in the long run.

What can your friendly employment screener do for you? They can keep you posted on the progress of a particular search. Let them know how vital this candidate is to your organization. Ask them what they can do to help you out.

Here are some other options to consider:
For some organizations, the successful completion of a background check is the most influential part of the hiring decision; therefore the check is conducted at the beginning of the process. For others, it is used as a helpful tool to choose between equally qualified candidates and thus conducted somewhere between the first interview and the actual job offer. Some organizations will conduct it post offer and make the offer contingent upon the successful completion of the check. And yet others, will also make the offer contingent upon the successful completion of the check, but put them on the job before executing.

All of the aforementioned options are permissible and when used effectively, greatly benefit the employer. There are ramifications for each though. For instance, if the check is conducted at the onset of the hiring process, the organization is probably screening many more candidates than it will actually hire. The benefit is that rather than going completely through with the whole process, candidates can either move on or be eliminated right away. On the other end of the spectrum, those who wait until someone is on the job run the risk of employing and potentially having to terminate a candidate after they have made it through the entire process. The benefit of waiting is that they can breeze through the hiring process and get candidates on the job quickly.

At the end of the day, you have to make the best decision for your organization. The important thing is that you actually conduct a thorough search that allows you to make an informed hiring decision.