Recruiters are in a tough position when vetting applicants. Time is of the essence with the current feeding frenzy for high quality candidates, yet careful examination still needs to be practiced. The challenge of blending speed, accuracy, and legal compliance into pre-employment background checks will always be part of the difficulty. Though working with background screening professionals is the fastest way to audit prospects, here are a few strategies that can help secure top talent faster.

Ask Qualifying Screening Questions

Top recruiters are attuned to their clients. Their ability to ask questions that qualify prospects lowers candidate fall off rates while going so far as to eliminate candidates with problematic backgrounds. The secret boils down to spotting inconsistencies and willfully investigating them from the start.

Cross-checking LinkedIn profiles with resumes is a good starting point. Inconsistencies in work experience, employment gaps, duration of employment, or primary skills present red flags. That is when deeper questioning helps determine who would pass or fail a client’s employee criteria.

CareerBuilder surveys find that the most common fabrications come from embellished skills, responsibilities, dates of employment, job titles, and academic degrees. Questions that ask for verification or elaboration are the most effective:

I see there is an employment gap on your resume. What caused the gap?
Your resume includes Java/CAD/Anesthesiology extensively. How did you use [insert skill] your last job?
Your title at your last job involves some leadership. For how long and in what ways were you leading a team?

Though simple questions like those above allow candidates to pacify or affirm your concerns, trying to trip them up with the verbal equivalent of a Rube Goldberg machine just confuses everyone in the long run.

Additionally, check references seriously. Always be sure to call a candidate’s references at an official company number and when you’re done, be sure to connect with them on LinkedIn and thank them for their time. Many recruiters find that the bluff often gets revealed when the real manager, who ends up not being the person the recruiter spoke with, responds utterly befuddled.

Study Laws Pertaining to Pre-Employment Background Checks

Each jurisdiction has its own statutes, file storage practices, and length of time that returns extend back. A by-the-books pre-employment background check in Kentucky will be different from one done in Connecticut. Knowledge of current laws across your jurisdictions of operation (and beyond) help to prevent instances when background checks need to be repeated.

Here’s just one example. Something as simple as running a credit report varies from state to state. In California, the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act limits employers to request credit checks in a very finite amount of positions including managerial work, law enforcement, positions where credit card applications are processed, and a few others. Also, employers need to provide notice to the candidate identifying the basis under the Labor Code which allows them to request a credit report in the first place. Other states have fewer stipulations for credit reports, and being aware of that helps to cut costs and speed up the process.

Unfortunately, the industry is increasingly litigious, so staffing firms need to be operating under comprehensive and applicable knowledge.

Use the Right Staffing Software

The speed of the entire pre-employment background check process depends on the proper alignment of background screening services and tools. As an example, look at our integrated solution with background screening partner, Asurint. Their best practices leverage a screening product recommendation model based on a candidate’s address history to produce extremely fast turnaround times for their clients. And the way our staffing software is integrated with their screening solution accelerates the process even further.

For example, when an applicant’s information is plugged into Ultra-Staff software, that information is automatically routed to Asurint when a background screening request is made. The moment all of the checks are completed, recruiters are notified through the Ultra-Staff portal without a moment’s notice. That dual integration accelerates the entire hiring process, allowing recruiters to keep both their clients and candidates in the loop.

According to Asurint COO, Connie Clore, the two-way integration with ABD provides “consistent delivery of best practices to achieve the most comprehensive, cost-effective, time efficient results for staffing firms.”

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