Like all industries, recruitment has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years. Once upon a time you may have been sending a paper CV directly to the employer; now, there are recruitment agencies and the age of digital has well and truly taken over.
Something else which has changed in the landscape are background checks. Previously, these were just not possible. From a cost perspective, they were just too expensive, and many companies just didn’t see the need for them.
Well, this is certainly changing. Whether it’s an arrest record or a standard background check, it’s easier than ever before to obtain details about a potential recruit – and this plays perfectly into the hands of an employer.
Of course, due to the fact that they are still quite new on the scene, there are some myths dotting around. Here, we will take a look at some of them, and start to debunk them once and for all.
Myth #1 – A background check takes weeks to run
Once upon a time this might have been true, but the reality now is that this is just not practical. If a company was to take weeks to mull over a background check, by the time they received the results back there’s every chance that their preferred candidate has found a new job.
As such, the systems work much faster than this. Generally, it takes days, and if it’s going to take longer you need to seriously think about the provider that you are using (there’s more on this in the third myth we talk about).
Myth #2 – You don’t always need to conduct a background check
It’s at this point that we will hand out a frightening statistic. Almost 20% of employers said in a survey that they made a bad hiring decision after not conducting a background check. When we also tell you that these bad hires cost on average $17,000 – it’s certainly an expensive mistake.
Sure, you might be trying to save money for your business, but at the same time this might cost you even more in the long-run if you make a bad decision in the hiring process.
Myth #3 – All background checks are great
Unfortunately, this is something that we just can’t agree with. There has been a surge in background check services over the last few years, and some of them are of exceptional quality. Like most industries, there are some poor ones though, and dealing with one of these can present some real problems to your business.
Receiving the wrong information is naturally a recipe for disaster. It’s something that could make a potentially good candidate out of the running, or vice-versa.
It’s for this reason that you should really analyze the service you are using, or opt for the DIY-approach. In relation to the latter, this means finding information yourself via the official channels, rather than relying on an external party to conduct the searches for you.
