Hiring a candidate just because they have a college degree and a job may not be the best strategy. Being unemployed doesn’t mean the candidate is not qualified or not a good employee. Many good workers are unemployed and just need a chance to prove themselves. Instead of dismissing a candidate whose employment was terminated, consider these possibilities:  

• They may not have fit well at their previous company or organization, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a good fit for you. You can ask the candidate to explain their termination to help you get a sense of whether they will work well in your company culture.
• People can also get fired if they had to work with bad managers. You can probably think of a boss you had in your employment history who wasn’t easy to get along with or wasn’t qualified to lead. If you put yourself in their shoes, can you really blame them?
• Making mistakes is part of the learning process. A mistake that cost them their job won’t be easy to forget so you can hire them knowing they aren’t likely to make the same mistake twice.
• Some people just have really bad luck. If you’re the employer to give them a second chance, your new employee will be grateful and anxious not to return to unemployment.

Hiring the right people for your organization is difficult and you’re not alone in this. It’s difficult for most organizations and businesses. So, just because this candidate was a bad hire somewhere else, this doesn’t mean they aren’t worth your time.

You should try to get a comprehensive understanding of the candidate’s qualifications, skills, and personality before making a decision. In order to do this, you can conduct background screening checks and interviews. If you have questions about employment verifications, background screening and reference checks, feel free to contact us!

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Education vs. Employment History

Significant research has been conducted on the correlation between a student’s performance in college and how it will help in the workplace. Ernst and Young’s U.K. office decided to remove the degree requirement from their application. After conducting an internal study of 400 employees, they found little evidence that academic success was correlated with the job performance of new hires.

Whether you require candidates to have a degree or not also depends on your industry. You wouldn’t hire someone to be a doctor or a teacher if their highest form of education was high school. Other industries, however, can benefit from hiring candidates without degrees. The tech industry in particular seems to agree that hiring outside of the college educated applicants is a smart move.

Advantages to Removing Degree Requirements

There are a few benefits to allowing candidates without degrees apply for positions at your organization. Here are some of the advantages:

• About 68% of Americans age 25 or older don’t have a bachelor’s degree so by eliminating the college education requirement you’re expanding the candidate pool.
• Many candidates who don’t have bachelor’s degrees will have more hands-on work experience.
• Candidates won’t be pressured to lie about their education history on resumes or during interviews.

Removing degree requirements can be beneficial for some positions but this isn’t always the case. Some skills and traits can only be acquired on the job whereas others require a college education. Consider the requirements of your industry and the position before removing degree requirements because every position is different and the benefits listed above may not work for your industry.

No matter what criteria you’re looking for in candidates, whether it’s education or work history, make sure you verify their claims. With about 40 percent of applicants lying on resumes, background check screening and verification processes are essential to an efficient workplace. If you have questions about risk mitigation solutions, feel free to contact us!

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Problem: The CRA spends a great deal of time verifying the identity of your job candidate because her name is Sarah Brown. With all of the Sarah Browns in the world, it could take awhile to make sure they’re verifying information for the right one. Depending on the verifications you requested, the CRA will also spend time researching contact information for past employers and institutions.

Solution: Provide the CRA with as much identifying information as possible for your job candidate and their past employment. Usually, providing the full employer or school name you need verified with city and state information, candidate name used at the institution and full contact information for a reference call is sufficient.

Problem: The employer requires a signed consent form from the candidate before sharing the information requested. Some employers require different levels of security when it comes to consent forms such as a wet signature over an electronic signature. If the CRA doesn’t have the proper forms on hand, this could also cause delays.

Solution: Make sure to provide the CRA with a signed consent form from the applicant. A hard copy with a wet signature will help speed up the process if the CRA has it available on file.

Problem: There are several types of verification for employment screening. If the CRA verifies all of the background information on a candidate from past salaries to drug tests and criminal records, it will take longer and cost more than a simple employment history verification.

Solution: Only request that relevant information is verified. If you need to verify where the applicant worked for a specified amount of time but not their salary, make sure the CRA understands this. It takes more time to request private information such as salary than it does to check dates and job titles.

Other causes for delays are beyond your control and the control of the CRA. Because your candidate’s past employers are probably just as busy as you are, they may not respond to the CRA’s questions in a timely manner. CRAs usually plan for this by establishing a maximum number of times for calling the employer so you don’t have to pay for endless attempts at contacting them. Delays such as waiting for responses from schools, certifying agencies, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), and forms mailed through the U.S. Postal Mail arise frequently and all you can do is exercise patience.

If you have more questions about the background check process, please contact us. As a CRA, JD Palatine is here to help you with risk management!

The post What Can Delay A Reference Check? appeared first on JDP.

Terms

• Background check – A background check or investigation involves researching the criminal records, employment history, social media presence, and financial records of an individual, usually a prospective employee. These can be extensive if you include criminal records ranging from the county level to the state level, fingerprinting,verifications, driving records, and credit reports.
• Verification – Before hiring a new employee, you want to make sure the information they provide, such as the information on their resume, was not falsified. Verification services are one of the most intensive aspects of background checks. They usually include employment and education history, professional and personal reference interviews, earned credentials and licenses, and military service. Education verification is completed on the highest level of education an applicant listed on his or her resume. Verifying employment history verification includes everything from checking dates of employment to the individual’s work habits, salary, and relationships with coworkers.
• Authorization Form– Companies need permission from the applicant before they begin conducting a background check. This is a requirement under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act – When you outsource the background check responsibilities to a company such as JDP, you must follow the rules of guidelines of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA was established to protect the privacy of individuals and promote fairness during the hiring process. Under this act, individuals have the right to know what is uncovered in a background check and if that information prevented them from being hired.
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act – The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act protects the privacy of individuals by requiring institutions with access to their financial records and assets to explain their information-sharing practices.
• Office of the Inspector General (OIG) – The OIG functions to prevent fraud and mistreatment in over 100 Health and Human Services programs including Medicare and Medicaid. This is one of the most requested services at JDP because there are strict penalties for organizations that knowingly hire an individual with fraud or mistreatment violations in his or her past.
• Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) – The OFAC investigates threats to national security, foreign policy and economy of the U.S. This is also one of the most popular services at JDP.
• Fraud and Abuse Control Information Systems (FACIS) – FACIS records include individuals involved in state licensing board sanctions in all 50 states for the healthcare field. Another popular service JD Palatine offers, FACIS prevents organizations from hiring candidates who have past behavior or performance issues.

In addition to this terminology, there are several important acronyms used when discussing background check services and regulations. To ensure you send the correct information about your job candidate, you should know what these acronyms represent.

• SSN – SSN stands for Social Security Number. Every U.S. citizen and resident is issued a Social Security Number under the Social Security Act. It allows the government to keep track of taxation as well as eligibility for Social Security. SSN searches also yield results for an individual’s past names and addresses. Finding past addresses can help determine which counties to conduct a criminal records search.
• DOB – This stands for Date of Birth and is located on an individual’s birth certificate.
• PII – This stands for Personally Identifiable Information, which is information that can be used to distinguish one individual from another. A full name, home address, face, fingerprinting, and handwriting are all examples of Personally Identifiable Information.
• FTC – The FTC or Federal Trade Commission functions to ensure fair and competitive business practices while protecting consumers.
• DLN – DLN or a Driver’s License Number will provide information regarding an individual’s driving history. With a DLN, you can access a MVR.
• MVR – This is a Motor Vehicle Report with information on driving records including traffic tickets, license suspension, and driving-related crimes. While some of this information varies by state, usually an MVR will include personal identifiers, license type, and driving infractions. Normally, MVRs are only needed if a position requires the applicant to drive.
• NAPBS – The National Association of Professional Background Screeners checks up on background check companies. This is a nonprofit organization that functions to promote compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. JDP is a member of the NAPBS.
• JDP – JDP is reliable, fast, and accurate background screening check company that offers a variety of services and gives you personalized attention. That’s us! And we’re here to provide secure screening solutions for an insecure world.

This is a lot of information to absorb but we’re here to make the process of background checks easy! If you have any questions about the information above please feel free to contact us!

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