In an article on Salary.com titled – Can Your Credit Report Hurt You in An Interview? An interesting statistic popped out at me – only 1 out of 5 small to medium-sized businesses run any form of background verification. 20%! I was shocked that the number is so low.
Soap box time: If you are not already completing some form of background verification, start with your next hire and all subsequent hires.
A true story to illustrate my point. Roughly 2 years ago, we were working with a client that was impressed with a candidate’s ability to close the deal (ask for and start the job). They liked him so much that they allowed him to begin work before they received the results of his background verification.
They received the new employee’s report on his first day on the job. Here is what they discovered:
-He had not been working for over 2 months. He told our client he was currently working and may have to give 2 weeks notice. Lo and behold, he told them his “employer” allowed him to quit without notice and start immediately with our client.
-His driver’s license had been revoked some time ago even though driving was required for this position. His record contained multiple DWI’s and other violations.
-His credit report indicated a pattern of maxed credit and delinquent/closed lines of credit.
The result was that our client ended up firing this person for lying on his resume on his first day. Our customer was more than generous and provided a 2 week severance for this person who lasted less than 1 day. All of this nonsense could have been avoided if they would have followed their own hiring process. The lesson here is to first run background verifications. For all potential employees. Secondly, complete the verification before you hire the candidate.
If you are looking for a company that provides this service, please visit Verified Credentials. We do not provide this service but have seen the thoroughness of Verified’s reports and they are top notch.