Do background checks to verify potential employees rely on profiles data brokers have compiled on them? Or do background checks rely on more direct means?
We check criminal records from local and national databases as well as your driving record. Because my industry is working with kids, we’re really just checking to make sure you don’t have any child abuse or neglect on your record.
Other industries, I’m sure, are looking for different things based on what they’re hiring for. Where I work, there is a different set of checks we run on folks that work in our finance department, but I don’t oversee that area.
Other industries, I’m sure, are looking for different things based on what they’re hiring for. Where I work, there is a different set of checks we run on folks that work in our finance department, but I don’t oversee that area.
they look at credit scores now to get jobs and that floored me when i worked for a fintech job at a bank holdings company; they were going to reject me because my credit report showed a an overdue credit card account from when i was 8 years old.
it was obviously wrong because no one gives credit cards to 8 year olds; but it was there in all 3 credit reporting agency’s reports; they had to get their legal team involved to tell their hr team to let me, a software developer, work at a bank doing software development because of a bad credit score.
Most finance jobs run credit reports. People with bad credit are perceived as more likely to steal, which is bullshit in my opinion.
it’s also bullshit when you consider that the only thing i could steal is source code and; since everything we worked on was open source; i would have absolutely nothing to gain from it. lol
That is absolutely wild.
and a reality in the united states
Absolute nightmare to get that kind of stuff cleared from your reports. Were you successful?
nope
I think background checks are usually limited to your police record (any misdemeanors, felonies, etc) and financial situation (declared bankruptcy, etc).
If they are checking data brokers or aggregators it’s not really a background check. Carefully read any consent you give for a potential employer to perform a background check. Look for the records they are accessing and make a determination based on that language.
It is possible that some vendor is the space incorporates data brokers into their service, and that’s hard to tell. But they still should ask for your consent, I believe.
Thank you for the insightful response.
It depends on how the company goes about it. The larger the company, the more established the HR department. They may use their HR platform to conduct the check which may find any and everything. The smaller companies may only check recent background with a local firm. Price is the name of the game. The more in-depth the background check, the more it costs. If you are going to work in a bank or with kids, be prepared to for the company/school to use the state equivalent of the FBI. For mom and pop shops, they may just take your word on the application. If you see a national HR platform like Paycom, then the results can vary depending on the package the company purchases.
I just realized I didn’t answer your question though. The main issue of using data brokers is that you as in the employer, for the most part, can’t or are legally dissuaded from using them. We can only use official records to judge your trustworthiness. Things like data brokers are a grey area. It’s not legally admissible in a background check by most EEOC standards, but people use any system they want. It’s on the job seeker to prove they were discriminated against.
As someone who hires people regularly, I only use the information provided by the HR platform. I don’t google people because I wouldn’t want that to happen to me. Other people may not have the same compunctions.
Edit: Actually answering the damn question.
Thank you for taking the time to give a detailed reply!
I run background checks for employment regularly and have used multiple different providers. Never seen data broker information. Largely the providers I’ve used have in advanced let me know which county courthouses they would collect information from.
Thank you for the reply! I appreciate the insights provided.
IIRC mine (as an employee, not HR) verified some stuff on my CV (education details I think).
Most big background check service companies are checking your criminal history directly with the court houses of where you’ve told them you’ve lived. Many will also verify your past employment directly with those companies as well. Depending on the company/job title they may also be checking your credit score/bankruptcy history or verifying degrees with universities as well. They don’t care about what data brokers have on you because they’re getting verification on things directly from official sources.
I don’t know if you’re worried that your too “locked down” privacy wise for a background check to clear? I wouldn’t worry because if you’re using your countries equivalent of a SSN and living “on the grid” but not online at all they’ll still be able to get the info they need/want anyway. I’ve had employees who didn’t even have emails or own phones/computers clear background.
I beg to differ. In my country (Europe) they can get almost nothing on their own (if I haven’t volunteered it on social media). Public institutions, schools, banks, the police etc. do not release information to random people.
When we have the odd American client that insists on hiring a background check they come to me to give them paperwork that proves education, past employees and (lack of) criminal history. Then they start bitching that they can’t get in-depth information about each of them and I tell them to fuck off.
I’m curious what exactly they’re trying to get, maybe you can offer some insight. With the stuff I give them they are able to confirm that I really went to that school and worked at those places, should that not be enough?
The background companies we go through here in the US aren’t “random people” and you sign a release of that information for them when they start that background check. So you’ve given them permission to access that info on you. I don’t know what HRs your dealing with but if it’s random hiring managers asking you then they have no idea what’s in a typical background check anyway.
