Finding the right candidate for an important position in an organisation can be a difficult feat. Right from reviewing the resumes to screening and interviewing the candidates, there are multiple steps involved in employee background verification. In this blog, we explore the end-to-end process for background check and screening to help you navigate the process better. This comprehensive guide will equip you with adequate knowledge on running compliant background checks on future candidates.
What Is Employee Background Check?
A background check is primarily a way to learn detailed information about a potential employee’s history. Unlike the applicants’ resumes that only offers some personal information, a thorough professional background check goes into all the details about the candidate’s background. It gives you all the information regarding the applicant’s past to help you make an informed hiring decision.
Thorough employment verification can be instrumental in giving you valuable information you may otherwise never know. Apart from this, a background screening is also an excellent way to protect your company as it makes sure that all the claims made by the applicants are truthful and accurate.
Importance of Employee Verification Process
There are multiple benefits of completing a thorough employee verification process. Some of these include –
- Helps You Verify a Candidate’s Credentials
By thoroughly verifying a potential employee’s work history, you can determine their overall reputation. The verification process can help you understand a person’s existing skill level, personality, knowledge, experience, work ethic at the workplace and more. Knowing this information helps you ensure that you are making the right choice while hiring.
- Save Your Time And Energy
While the employee background verification process is important when hiring a candidate, it is very cumbersome and tedious. It requires a great deal of administrative work that can take up a lot of time. Hiring a professional third-party administer/screening company allows you to handle the employee verification process and delegate these tedious administrative tasks to someone else, thus saving you a lot of time.
- Helps You Verify That You Are Hiring An Honest Candidate
When candidates are looking for a job, they are bound to exaggerate certain things to look more appealing on paper. Employee verification ensures that you are hiring an honest employee instead of bringing in someone capable of doing the job but with compromised morals.
Who Conducts Employee Background Checks?
Different companies in India run background checks in different ways. Here are some of the ways they do it –
- Large private companies generally hire third-party professional verification agencies to do everything
- Small and medium-sized team firms usually have their HR team do all the work.
- Government/ PSUs run an extensive verification process before offering the job involving the steps mentioned below –
- They ask for residential proof of where the applicant lived for more than six months in the past four years.
- Further, they also ask to submit proof of their current local address and permanent address.
- Based on the information above, the company requests the applicant’s record from District Magistrates or Police Commissioners of areas where they have lived.
- Either of these authorities asks the respective police stations to run the check.
What Are The Different Things Checked During Employee Verification
Among the various things checked during the employee verification process include –
- Employment Verification
Here, the future employer contacts various past employers the applicant has worked with. A third-party verification agency will contact the employers listed on candidate’s resumes to verify the dates they have worked during and the various positions held. Additionally, they may also contact references shared by the applicant to ascertain their overall performance and character.
- Identity Checks
The identity search typically verifies that the applicant has a validly issued ID and that his/her name is assigned to that ID number. This search is generally performed through various sources, and the applicant is asked to provide a government-issued ID for the same such as a driver’s license or passport.
- Educational Background
Similar to verifying past employment, the verification agency here will contact the educational institutions the applicant has listed in their profile to verify the course of study and various degrees earned. They may also research any professional licenses to ensure their validity if the prospective employer finds that they are necessary for the position.
- Criminal Records
Criminal verification is done so that the companies do not end up hiring a candidate with any kind of criminal history.
Background Verification By The Government
The government contributes equally to help companies check an applicant’s history through –
- Aadhaar verification – biometrics and other details
- National Academics Depository (NAD) – educational records
- National Skills Registry (NSR) – the largest database of working professionals that helps companies fact-check employees
How To Get Started With Employee Background Verification In India
The employment verification process can be complicated and very time-consuming. However, it is one of the most crucial steps in the pre-employment screening process as it ensures the applicants you are reviewing have the skills, capabilities, character, and experience they have listed on their resumes.
To make the process simpler and faster, you can partner with a professional background check and screening service provider like us at AuthBridge. We can help you save time and money by completing the process for you with fast, effective, and accurate background verification services.
Contact us today to learn more about your options for conducting employee background verification checks for your potential candidates.
