这一步看起来很简单，对吧？没那么快。候选人可能会在简历或就业申请中犯错误（有意或无意），如果没有发现这些错误，可能会产生后果。事实上，研究表明，招聘经理发现超过 50% 的申请和简历存在差异。

为了确保您找到合适的人选，您需要仔细检查候选人是否输入了正确的详细信息，包括他们姓名的正确拼写。然后，背景调查提供商将使用此信息开始搜索，使用候选人的社会安全号码 (SSN) 或其他商业数据库中的个人身份信息 (PII) 以及来自征信机构的信息来识别候选人的潜在地址或别名用过的。

注意：SSN 跟踪与身份验证不同。虽然 SSN 跟踪检查提交的信息是否与与特定 SSN 相关的商业可用数据相匹配，但这并不意味着确定输入该信息的人是否是他们声称的人。这种类型的验证最好由直接与员工接触的一方执行——无论是雇主还是承包公司。

接下来，背景调查将进入“发现”阶段，该阶段本质上是广泛搜索，以确定候选人曾在哪里生活或工作，以及他们可能与执法部门有过接触的地方。他们的证书也将用于进行全国刑事数据库搜索，广泛撒网以发现任何其他潜在的犯罪行为。

如果候选人出现在这些数据库中的任何一个中，则应该进行额外的研究以确保它实际上是有问题的候选人而不是其他同名的候选人，以及候选人是否犯了罪行。从那里开始，将对记录的来源进行额外的调查——最常见的是县法院。

下一部分需要一些耐心——因为虽然许多背景调查可以在三到五天内完成，但有些，包括那些需要在多个地点进行更深入搜索和调查的调查，可能需要更长的时间。 

数据编制完成后，将在报告中呈现。报告因提供商而异，但通常包括：

评估结果以帮助您确定候选人是否仍有资格担任相关职位。请记住，如果候选人要求提供一份报告副本，您有法律义务向他们提供一份。如果报告包含可能影响候选人的职位资格的结果，那么您将需要开始采取不利行动的过程。查看我们的文章，了解更多信息，解释该过程。

公司已经开始了解背景调查的重要性——事实上，94% 的雇主至少会进行一种类型的就业筛选。为您的背景调查制定一致和标准的流程不仅有助于在员工和雇主之间建立信任和透明度，还有助于您保持合规并降低可能破坏您的业务成功的任何风险。   

鉴于验证、发现和调查阶段的许多复杂性，很明显为什么让第三方服务来协助进行背景调查可以让像您这样的公司高枕无忧。

This step seems easy, right? Not so fast. Candidates can make mistakes (intentional or not) on their resume or employment application, and if those errors aren’t caught, there could be consequences. In fact, research shows that hiring managers find discrepancies on over 50 percent of applications and resumes.

In order to ensure you’ve got the right person, you’ll want to double check that the candidate has entered in the right details, including the correct spelling of their name. A background check provider will then use this information to begin a search using the candidate’s social security number (SSN) or other personally identifiable information (PII) across commercially available databases as well as information from credit bureaus to identify potential addresses or aliases the candidate has used.

Note: An SSN trace is not the same as ID verification. While the SSN trace checks whether submitted information matches commercially available data associated with the particular SSN, it is not meant to determine whether the person entering that information is who they claim to be. That type of verification is best performed by the party directly engaging with the employee – whether that’s the employer or the contracting company.

Next, the background check will move to the “discovery” phase, which is essentially a broad search to identify where the candidate has lived or worked and where they’ve potentially had contact with law enforcement.Their credentials will also be used to conduct a national criminal database search, casting a wide net in order to find any other potential offenses.

If the candidate shows up in any of these databases, additional research should occur to make sure it’s actually the candidate in question and not someone else with the same name, as well as whether or not the candidate was guilty of the offense. From there, additional investigation will be conducted at the source of the records—most often, the county courthouse.

The next part takes some patience–because while many background checks can be completed within three to five days, some, including those that require deeper searches and investigation across multiple locations, could take longer. 

Once the data is compiled, it will be presented in a report. Reports vary by provider, but will generally include:

Evaluate the results to help you determine whether the candidate is still eligible for the role in question. Remember, if a candidate requested a copy of a report, you’re legally obligated to provide them with one. If a report contains results that could impact the candidate’s eligibility for the role,  then you’ll need to begin the process of adverse action. Check out our article explaining the process for more information.

Companies have come to understand the importance of background checks—in fact, 94 percent of employers conduct at least one type of employment screening. Having a consistent and standard process for your background checks not only helps to establish trust and transparency between an employee and employer, it also helps you stay compliant and reduce any risks that could disrupt your business’s success.   

And given the many intricacies of the validation, discovery and investigation phases, it’s clear why having a third-party service to assist with background checks can give companies like yours peace of mind.