Candidate Screening: More than just criminal history checks

Candidate screening is the process of assessing whether a candidate is qualified for a position based on their education, experience, and information contained in their CV.

When you hire a new employee, your firm makes many long-term expenditures in onboarding and training. Making the right recruitment choice for your organisation will have a significant impact, leading to greater productivity and a decreased turnover rate.

On the other side, if you are unable to find the ideal match for a role, the new employee is unlikely to succeed on the job, and all of the time, effort, and money spent on his/her integration into the firm is wasted.

Furthermore, screening candidates can help:

• Make sure you only hire people who are honest and have the necessary qualifications.
• Disqualify anyone who intends to harm your company's reputation.
• Disqualify unsuitable candidates for certain roles
• Reduce recruitment costs by hiring the right person for the job.

To achieve the points stated above, employers conduct some checks on the candidates.

The most common check is Criminal history check, which ensures that their company is not exposed to any potential risk. By properly examining an applicant's background for any criminal record, employers may avoid employing people with financial misconduct convictions such as fraud, theft, and embezzlement.

Employers also reduce the risk of employing someone who has a history of abusive or aggressive behaviour.

With the help of criminal history checks, employers can enhance the overall quality of hires by properly screening applicants for criminal backgrounds. Furthermore, it may decrease employee theft losses and the liabilities that might follow a lawsuit for negligent hiring.

Criminal background checks may appear to be the only answer businesses require to improve the overall quality of their recruits, but there is more to candidate screening than meets the eye. It also includes:

Credit history check

Employee credit checks allow companies to examine a candidate's financial past and reduce any concerns posed to their organisation by people in financial distress.

Judicial and bankruptcy data, such as Court Judgments, edited Electoral Roll information, and a credit score, is the type of data received by the employers on conducting this check.

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Education and Degree verification

Verifications of education and qualifications establish the authenticity of any claims made on a job application, allowing companies to comfortably issue a job offer to the candidate.

It helps employers in hiring candidates who are qualified and well-suited for a specific role, reduces the chances of hiring a candidate with fake credentials, prevents any liabilities, and ensures compliance with state and industry regulations.

Previous employment verification

Verifying candidates' past work helps employers to ensure that the candidates have the qualifications and experience listed on their resumes or applications.

The employer or the business generally validates details such as past employers, dates of employment, job titles, pay earned at each position, and reasons for leaving. They may use references to find out relevant information about the candidate.

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Identity verification

Identity verification is a basic but essential check employers conduct, to ensure that the documents provided by the candidates are not forged. Negligence on the employers’ part may lead to fraud and the company being held liable for non-compliance.

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Right to work verification

The Right to work check assesses whether an applicant has been given the authorization to work in the United Kingdom. This verification is critical for companies because they will be held responsible if they hire someone who does not have the legal right to work.

More info about right to work checks here.

Every organisation has its own set of pre-employment screening processes and procedures. However, the goal of pre-employment or candidate screening is to gather information on potential or current employees and to ensure that information is appropriately analysed in order to identify people who may pose security risks.

Complyagte is a leading provider of pre-employment screening and background checks based in Birmingham, UK. For further information on Complygate ‘Pre-employment Screening’ please request a free demo.