EmployeeScreenIQ Blog

I hate to blatantly copy a post I’ve made elsewhere, but I’m rather impressed with myself (or at least the topic) on this one I recently posted on Xtra Cheezhead. See below.

Okay, so you’ve conducted a background check on a prospective employee and decide that they meet your standards. You extend an offer and that person accepts the job and becomes a valuable member of your team. Now that the person has been hired, most companies would not be inclined to consider further background checks. Well the times, they are a-changing.

While the concept of follow up background checks has been around for a long time and employed by security conscious organizations, you are seeing this emerging trend creep into the consciousness of your average business. It even has a shiny new name that many are using: “Infinity Screening”. I’m a big advocate of this practice because it allows you to evaluate your current employees for adverse information throughout their employment. An easy example is conducting annual Motor Vehicle Record check on those that drive company cars.

Please click on the link below to view the rest of this post:
http://www.cheezhead.com/xtra/2007/09/07/post-employment-screening/

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We recently released our thoughts on the upcoming trends in employment screening and are thrilled that someone actually picked it up! Experts Reveal 10 Background Screening Trends in Coming Year was recently published on HR.BLR.com

Hope you find it interesting.

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Have you noticed a recent trend in this blog of chronicaling the role Social Networking sites play in the hiring process? This story isn’t going away and neither is the trend for employers to go on-line to learn about their candidates. This study conducted in the UK by Joslin Rowe, a financial services recruiter finds that 20% of the employers polled said that they used social networking such as myspace to find out more information about their job applicants. The poll says that 68% of respondants claim to have used search engines. While I question the sampling of employers used in this study, these numbers do suggest that more and more employers are using the internet as a means to qualify candidates. And while this study reflects employers in the UK, this trend no doubt exists throughout the industrialized world.

Here’s a question though. I don’t have numbers to support this assumption (although I hardly doubt that I am far off here), but I am guessing that most people over the age of 35 don’t not have a facebook or myspace account. Using this logic, that means that this practice is being used primarily for candidates just entering the workforce up to those looking for second and third jobs. What are these employers doing with the rest of their candidates? What qualifies as information that would prevent an individual from being employed? Who decides? How is the information found verified to ensure both that it is true and accurate?

All lot of questions. We don’t have the answers. I’m sure this won’t be the last entry on this topic.

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The debate about the use of social networking sites as an acceptable means for evaluating potential employees continues to grow. We remain opposed to this practice, but rather than write volumes on why we reject it, thought it made sense to provide a quick illustration.

Amy Polumbo was recently crowned Ms. New Jersey and seeks to become Miss America. As most young adults do, she posted non-pornographic pictures of herself with her friends on her private Facebook site. Yes, some were a bit risque, but overall they were benign pictures of a college aged woman having fun with her friends. Someone has gained access to these photos and threatened to blackmail her with them. Rather than give in, she decided to release them herself as you will see in her interview with Matt Lauer from the Today Show.

No, she wasn’t being considered for a job, but one person putting their own spin on these photos and attempting to portray Polumbo in a negative light threatened her ability to attain the position of Ms. America. It’s easy to draw a correlation to how such a thing can happen in the employment environment. It doesn’t even have to be a blackmail situation. All it takes is an Internet savvy individual browsing a social networking site and then whatever is found can be interpreted in many different ways.

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As more organizations participate in the global economy, international background checks are becoming increasingly important.  However, as opposed to conducting background checks in the United States, the rules and methods for doing so are not clearly defined.  For instance, the type of information varies from country to country.  By and large, the most common types of overseas checks are limited to Criminal Records Searches, Employment and Education Verifications and Terrorist Watch List Searches.  However the depth and detail of information can differ greatly by country. 

Further, there is no international version of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that governs the use of background checks.  Organizations can become Safe Harbor Certified with the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Such a certification mandates some general best practices when it comes to applicant authorizations and the transmission of private information across international borders.  In general, it is best to afford overseas applicants with the same rights as domestic applicants when no clear regulation has been established (i.e. dispute resolution).

Lastly, since every country operates differently it is important to know where to access information, what information is needed to locate records and what you can expect in terms of results, turnaround time and cooperation. 

A good screening partner should be able to help you with direction and recommendations on all of the above.  Know of any?

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