Spring Screening: Why You Need Background Checks for Your Spring Hires

First quarter is one of the busiest for hiring trends. Between February and May, many firms are taking on several new employees. As an employer, this is a good time to be thinking of conducting appropriate employee screening & background checks. On-boarding employees can be a complicated task, not including the risk of hiring someone with a criminal background unknowingly. 

There are huge costs associated with hiring the wrong employee for your organization. If the employee has problems that don't show up on the resume: such as addictions, credit issues, or criminal activity, these may show up later and cause massive HR problems that otherwise may have been avoided.

A background check can usually identify potential problems and may help in the decision making process. It is estimated that more than 40% of resumes contain false or tweaked information. You need to know if the potential employer actually graduated from and worked at where they claimed to have on their resume.

Some types of data may require the new hire to approve the release of information. Depending on the position, a police records check may be necessary.

We’ve compiled a list of Do’s and Don’ts to make things clearer for you,

1.) Do Be Broad - validate previous employment history, check references, check the internet, run a criminal record check

2.) Don't Break the Law - use a reputable firm to advise you on the type of information that can be checked without breaking privacy laws

3.) Do Be Consistent - apply the requirement for pre-employment screening to all short-listed candidates

4.) Don't Seek Only the Negative - background checks can be used to locate positives that can help you choose between well-qualified candidates

5.) Don't Try to do it all Online - Everything is not online! Much of the data that can be legally obtained is best accessed by a licensed firm.

The Renwick Group has experience working with many different types of businesses and organizations providing skip-tracing, fraud investigations, WSIB support, legal team assistance, evidence gathering, employee back-ground checks, and more. We also work with individuals who need help with personal matters. Call us at 1 (888) 722-9807   or visit our website for more contact information.

Identify Falsified Resumés Before a Background Check

Background checks are the most effective way to identify potential problems prior to hiring a new employee.

More than 40% of resumés contain false or tweaked information!

While a background check will identify issues such as addictions, poor credit and criminal activity, they are typically conducted near the end of the hiring process. You can screen your stack of resumés to identify false information and inconsistencies, allowing you to minimize the amount of interviews and subsequent background checks.


The most commonly falsified areas on a resumé include:

1. Employment History

2. Job Skills

3. Education Credentials

4. Salary and Job Title

Now that we have identified the main areas of embellishment, here are some things to look for to help you recognize false information:

1. Unexplained Gaps in Employment. This is the most obvious red flag. An unexplained gap could mean the job applicant has a history of being fired or leaving jobs often. You should also check to make sure dates of employment line-up during your reference checks.

2. Unusual Periods of Self-Employment. This is a tactic that can be used to fill gaps in employment. Candidates may have asked friends or family to act as clients and provide reference checks.

3. Reluctance to Explain a Reason for Leaving a Job. A job applicant who isn’t forthcoming with the reason for leaving a job most likely left on bad terms. Give them the opportunity to explain their reluctance – there may be a confidentiality or privacy issue that cannot be disclosed.

4. Minimal Details. Most resumés will include a job title, organization name and location, alongside a job description. A resumé lacking any of those details may indicate job history discrepancies.

5. Careful Wording or Self-Acclamation. Watch for misleading wording or omitted information. A bachelor’s degree that has no listed graduation date or an unfamiliar educational institution may indicate false information. In addition, self-acclamation's such as “award-winning” should be collaborated with credentials.

6. Unverifiable Information. Gaps on a resumé, job positions, self-employment. Most social media sites provide an opportunity to cross-check information for inconsistencies.

Following these tips should help you sift through job applications and create a short-list. From here, you can conduct interviews and background checks to ensure you’re making the correct hiring decision. Most importantly, remember to trust your instincts and if you think you’ve found the right candidate, give them the opportunity to discuss any issues you have found on their resumé.

The Renwick Group has experience working with many different types of businesses and organizations providing skip-tracing, fraud investigations, WSIB support, legal team assistance, evidence gathering, employee background checks, and more. We also work with individuals who need help with personal matters. Call us at 1 (888) 722-9807 or visit our website for more contact information.

Pre-Employment Screening on the Rise

We are noticing a trend in the number of organizations, particular small companies without HR resources, take on our pre-employment screening services.

Basically, the employer wants to make sure that the applicant who is in the final stages of getting the job, is properly vetted, screened and all the final resume checks are made to determine that everything presented is true and honest.

In the process of pre-employment checks a number of factors may, give rise to concerns about the integrity or reliability of the applicant. Credit report checks can provide assurance that there are no significant credit or debt problems that could place the individual in a vulnerable position.





Other factors to look out for include:

1. involvement in illegal activities
2. criminal convictions relevant to the role, particularly if not volunteered by the applicant
3. false or unsubstantiated claims on the CV or application form
4. unsubstantiated qualifications
5. unexplained gaps in employment history
6. adverse references
7. questionable documentation e.g. lack of supporting paperwork or concern that documents are not genuine
8. evasiveness or unwillingness to provide information on the part of the candidate.

Pre-employment Screening

  

Pre-employment screening can be also be used to confirm an applicant's immigration status, nationality and identity, as well as to verify their declared skills and employment history.

  

Security Screening

 

With some employmnet situations, addtional security is required for the position. We can add a security screening process, including:

• more robust procedures on confirming the individual's identity
• a five year employment confirmation
• robust financial checks for Court Judgements and bankruptcies
• more robust procedures where career and history records are incomplete
• Deep criminal records checks
• Detailed migrant worker checks with visa and paperwork validation

We understand that hiring the right candidate can involve more than just pre-employment screening and a criminal background check.  Using the most reliable technology to search nationwide and beyond - instantly in many cases - The Renwick Group delivers the decision-making information you need. Criminal background checks, verifications, license checks and many more employee background check services are moved at speed so you, and your business, can move forward.

The Renwick Group - www.therenwickgroup.ca - 1 (888) 722-9807 - is a private investigation firm founded in 1997 and is based in Barrie, Ontario, covering Toronto and South Central Ontario. We excel in delivering our core Private Investigation Services in the most efficient, secure, and professional manner.​

What is Pre-Employment Screening and Why Is It Important?

At The Renwick Group we are noticing a trend in the number of organizations, particular small companies without HR resources, take on our pre-employment screening services.

Basically, the employer wants to make sure that the applicant who is in the final stages of getting the job, is properly vetted, screened and all the final resume checks are made to determine that everything presented is true and honest.

In the course of pre-employment checks a number of factors may, individually or in combination, raise concerns about the integrity or reliability of the applicant. Credit report checks for example, can provide assurance that there are no significant credit or debt problems that could place the individual in a vulnerable position.





Other factors to look out for include:

• involvement in illegal activities
• criminal convictions relevant to the role, particularly if not volunteered by the applicant
• false or unsubstantiated claims on the CV or application form
• unsubstantiated qualifications
• unexplained gaps in employment history
• adverse references
• questionable documentation e.g. lack of supporting paperwork or concern that documents are not genuine
• evasiveness or unwillingness to provide information on the part of the candidate.

Pre-employment Screening

  

Pre-employment screening can be also be used to confirm an applicant's identity, nationality and immigration status, and to verify their declared skills and employment history.

  

Additional Security Screening

 

With some employmnet situations, addtional security is required for the position and we can add a security screening process, including:

• more robust procedures on confirming the individual's identity
• a five year employment confirmation
• robust financial checks for Court Judgements and bankruptcies
• more robust procedures where career and history records are incomplete
• Deep criminal records checks
• Detailed migrant worker checks with visa and paperwork validation

Hiring qualified, honest employees is critical to the success of your organization being diligent with your hiring process can be important.

We understand that hiring the right candidate can involve more than just pre-employment screening and a criminal background check.  Using the most reliable technology to search nationwide and beyond - instantly in many cases - The Renwick Group delivers the decision-making information you need. Criminal background checks, verifications, license checks and many more employee background check services are moved at speed so you, and your business, can move forward.

The Renwick Group - www.therenwickgroup.ca - 1 (888) 722-9807 - is a private investigation firm founded in 1997 and is based in Barrie, Ontario, covering Toronto and South Central Ontario. We excel in delivering our core Private Investigation Services in the most efficient, secure, and professional manner.​

Trends in Pre-Employment Screening Services

The Renwick Group provides full pre-employment screening services to our clients.  We've noticed that this arera of business is changing rapidly, both from the applicant and employer sides, primarily due to new technologies being introduced. 

 

Here is the Wikipedia entry that helps to update us on new trends in Pre Employment Screening.

 

The Market

 

Larger companies are more likely to outsource than their smaller counterparts – the average staff size of the companies who outsource is 3,313 compared to 2,162 for those who carry out in-house checks.

Primary step will be to screen the resume from a list of prospective applicants. A preliminary telephonic or web based interview is held to identify the range of discrepancy within the resume and the interviewee. Such a move also helps to identify whether the resume is professionally written, elaborated or involve resume fraud. Further a series of resumes are shortlisted.

 

Financial services firms outsource the service the most, with over a quarter (26%) doing so, compared to an overall average of 16% who outsource vetting to a third party provider.

 

However, recent research by Powerchex shows a reverse in the trend. They found that in the 2006/7 period CV discrepancies had fallen by 31% to 13%.

Background Verification

Pre-screening background verification and post-interview background checks are two strategies that are involved in pre-employment screening. Pre-screening background verification is deployed when the even the interview will contain data or information which are vital for the organization to disclose. Such a strategy is used mostly in the Military, strategic industries and higher levels of employees. While post-hiring background verification occurs once the resumes are shortlisted for pre-employment screening.

Third party background verification firms allow candidates to screen their own backgrounds on basis of identity, address, references, criminal background checks, drug test, financial records, court record checks and driving license verification and to verify the authenticity of their resume. Such a strategy allows candidates to gain a preferential advantage as it reduces background check expenses from the point of view of the recruiter.

Male/female

It is alleged that men stand a higher chance of clearing the pre-employment screening than women. However equality of opportunity gives women an equal platform for employment as some firms like Facebook, Google insist the candidates not to disclose about their gender during pre-employment screening. This reduces gender bias during stages of pre-employment screening. Women are marginally more likely to have a discrepancy on their CV: 13% of applicants submitted by women have a discrepancy compared to only 10% of those for men.

Impact of qualifications

Graduates have marginally less discrepancies: 13% of their CVs contain a discrepancy compared to 17% of non-graduates.

Impact of seniority and age

Since Equal Opportunity or Equality of Opportunity is considered important and ethical in the job market, seniority of age is left to question in the preliminary stages of pre-employment screening.

 

However the age of the candidate can be verified from various documents that are mandatory to be submitted. However the recent trend is to follow the equality of opportunity to all the candidates at the preliminary stages of screening. Someone in a junior administrative position is 23% more likely to have a discrepancy on their CV than in a managerial role. An applicant aged under 20 is 26% more likely to have a discrepancy than a 51-60 year old.

 

The Renwick Group Provides Full Pre Employment Screening Services - www.therenwickgroup.ca

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_pre-employment_screening

Reference Checking in Canada - Reference checking is distinct from employment verification

Here is a great article about checking employment references from Monster.ca. This is good advise for any hiring manager and has some tips that we can all use. The Renwick Group - www.therenwickgroup.ca

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Reference checking is distinct from employment verification

Article Source: http://hiring.monster.ca/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/screening-job-candidates/reference-checking-in-canada.aspx
By Howard Levitt and Michael Mulroy
Lang Michener, Toronto Office
Monster Employment Legal Advisors

A good hire is the surest way to eliminate from your workforce problem employees, who consume their manager’s time with performance issues, waste recruitment, hiring and training dollars and generate severance costs, when they are dismissed. A good hire is the end result of an effective hiring process which identifies high quality job candidates well suited to the available position, thus eliminating the problem employee by never inviting the employee to step through your front door.

A crucial step in achieving a good hire is checking references. Conducting a reference check is not a risky business. It is a sound business practice, which surprisingly is not always done. Every hire should have a reference check.

There is no legal impediment to asking prospective candidates to provide the names of referees and permission to contact them. Reference checking is distinct from employment verification.

Verification is confirming the accuracy of information that has been provided by the applicant, either in an application form, resume or verbally, about such factual matters as service dates, job title and salary. Reference checks gather qualitative information about the applicant’s performance, skills, weaknesses and similar matters. How the applicant performed with a former employer is an indicator of how the candidate is likely to perform in the future for you.

You may elicit from referees pertinent information about the job candidate’s suitability for the position. The law of human rights requires hiring practices to be free of discrimination. An employer cannot consider factors which are protected by human rights legislation such as age, race, sex, family status and disability, among others, when making a hiring decision. Do not solicit information about any prohibited ground of discrimination identified by the applicable human rights statute in checking references. If you would not ask an applicant the question in your own job application and interview process, then do not ask it in the course of checking a reference. With that caution, you may obtain from referees information to assess the candidate’s qualifications to perform the position you are filling.

Your job candidate may present written references to support an application. Reference letters are helpful, but limited. Often, a reference letter is more useful for what is not mentioned, than what is. A written reference should be augmented by a conversation with the author. Details can be gleaned in a phone conversation, which otherwise would not appear in print. You will hopefully be speaking to a person who can provide a snapshot of the job candidate’s contribution to a prior workplace. You can assess possible fit and the likelihood of a mutually rewarding relationship.

Who signs the written reference speaks volume. Is it a former supervisor or a human resources manager? If the former supervisor, you can likely obtain good relevant feedback. If a human resources manager is the author, the letter may be a product of the settlement of a wrongful dismissal action initiated by the employee. Red flags are raised. These concerns will be confirmed if your questions are responded to with limited information, thus confirming an agreement has been made in which the former employer has agreed not to comment outside the written reference.

A skillfully executed reference check elicits an honestly held, forthcoming opinion by the referee of the former employee’s qualities and limitations.

A reference is considered a communication protected by qualified privilege and the person giving the reference cannot be sued for slander or defamation, provided the comments are the referee’s honestly held opinion. The information obtain in the reference check should only be used for the purpose of evaluating the candidate’s suitability. The information could lose any protection, if communicated to third parties for purposes unrelated to a hiring decision.

Prospective employers may face obstacles in checking references, such as policies against providing references, difficulty reaching referees and resultant delays in hiring decisions. However, the effort is well worth it, as hiring mistakes will be minimized.

Article Source: http://hiring.monster.ca/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/screening-job-candidates/reference-checking-in-canada.aspx


If you need any reference checking information or assistance - call us www.therenwickgroup.ca