Conducting a background investigation upon someone may seem fairly simple these days because so much information is now online and so many courts allow access to their records. Many times you have to have some type of subscription to access more detailed information. There are many sites online that allow you to run a name, hopefully the name you put through their system isn’t common, but if it is, you could be getting information on multiple individuals who share that name, even though they may have different dates of birth.
conduct background checks and perform due diligence research for the private sector and for many businesses and corporations. Many times a company will take the word of a prospective employee: they have never been convicted of a crime, they are not involved in any civil litigation, they have never been arrested – not even a speeding ticket. However, these companies sometimes get burned when they find out later the employee’s background wasn’t as clean as they thought. Some companies perform background checks only in the jurisdictions the prospective employee reported; but in fact, a good employment background check should include a personal profile. A personal profile reports all jurisdictions an individual is linked to. It may not be a residence. It could be a city the employee’s parents reside in. It could be a city an ex-spouse or their children reside in. These jurisdictions should also be checked.
It’s doubtful a prospective employee would report an arrest in a city they didn’t reside in; they’ll assume you won’t find it and what you don’t know won’t hurt them. knows firsthand that a police record in an unreported city could easily be missed, so we take that extra step in our criminal background search and our due diligence process. We know you don’t want to hire someone who’s trying to hide a criminal history or wage garnishment; you don’t want someone who owes other companies hundreds or even thousands of dollars running your accounting department; you don’t want someone who has multiple driving suspensions driving for your business; and you certainly don’t want someone who has had recent felony convictions representing your company.
For certain positions, a financial investigation is appropriate. You want your company’s income to remain within the company and not in an employee’s personal banking account. Employee embezzlement and theft by employees can be a problem in many businesses. The financial investigation for higher ranking perspective employees is a common practice for many corporations. Before you welcome a stranger into your company, make sure they aren’t hiding a past. Be certain they have the same values you do before they join your team.
-Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations
