Pre-Employment Screening Services
The Most Important Hiring Decision You Can Make
Is the applicant really who they appear to be?
Security Services of America can protect your business from hiring an unethical employee before the damage is done.
The strength of any business depends on the strengths and quality of its’ employees. A business is only as good as their employees. Therefore, the need to hire the most qualified and reliable employees is one of the most fundamental aspects in building a solid foundation for any success-oriented business. Selecting trustworthy, reliable and dependable employees is paramount to the success of any business while avoiding the cost associated with poor hiring decisions.
Our highly trained research professionals utilize the most technologically advanced resources and methods to provide our clients fast, accurate and reliable information about an applicant being considered for employment.
Verifying an applicant’s personal history information is the most essential element of the background screening process. Through the utilization of the social security number provided by the applicant, the process begins. As one of the most abused items of information, the social security number is processed to identify fraudulent numbers that have not been issued by the Social Security Administration, verify the issuance of the number to a particular individual, and ensure that the applicant is not using a number that has been issued to a deceased individual.
Once the validity of the social security number has been established an applicant’s residential address history is developed to determine in which jurisdictions a criminal history search should be initiated. Applicants attempting to conceal a criminal history will intentionally omit previous residential addresses to do so. This approach has proven to greatly reduce the likelihood that an applicant can conceal a criminal past.
A “Discrepancy Alert” will appear on the report when discrepancies are identified relating to the provided social security number and the developed residential address history.
An applicant with a criminal history will not always voluntarily provide this significant information when applying for employment. Criminal records are manually searched to obtain the most current misdemeanor and felony criminal conviction information at the local city or county level. Information obtained through criminal history records not only identifies high-risk applicants, but also ensures a safe working environment for your current employees.
A history of criminal convictions is essential for any employer to ascertain. Particularly when an applicant will be handling or have access to money, drugs, inventory, business records, confidential and proprietary information or have interactive contact with customers. This is also a requirement for any member of your organization in management or a position of responsibility. However, one must remember a criminal past can be concealed by an applicant by intentionally omitting a former address, altering a date of birth or social security number on the job application, or worse yet assuming another's identity. Remember that those individuals who may have a criminal past and tendencies are the individuals you are protecting yourself against. For these individuals, where there is a will there is a way. Criminal history records, when properly searched and located, could be the difference between success and failure when making hiring decisions.
A Civil Record Search can provide additional information necessary to make informed hiring decisions. Liens, Suits, Judgments and pending civil litigation can be instrumental in assessing an applicant’s individual responsibility and personal habits. Legal obligations do affect performance in the workplace.
An applicant's personal habits usually parallel their professional habits. Is the applicant financially responsible, or are they susceptible to committing an act of theft due to excessive financial obligations. Do liens, judgments and bankruptcy indicate a lack of responsibility or simply circumstances of misfortune? This search will provide information detailing an applicant’s history of meeting their financial obligations and report pertinent public records, such as collection accounts, tax liens, past due child support obligations, bad checks, charged-off credit accounts and bankruptcy.
We endorse and strictly adhere to the guidelines outlined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Will an applicant be trusted with operation of a company vehicle or heavy equipment? Does the applicant have a history of excessive motor vehicle violations?
Reckless Driving, Speeding, Driving under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs are a prime indication of reckless behavior and attitude. Can you imagine the ramifications and effect on your organization, if a new hire or current employee were involved in an accident resulting in severe injury or the loss of life and their driving history reflected a past of violations that would have precluded them from driving your vehicles?
A revoked, suspended or restricted license would most certainly disqualify an applicant or current employee from a job position requiring the operation of a company vehicle. Therefore, we recommend implementing a policy requiring quarterly or semi-annual driving history review of all employees trusted with the operation of a company vehicle.
The exaggeration and falsification of educational background and accomplishments on resumes is at an all time high. Verification of college or trade school attendance, graduation, degrees and academic accomplishments are essential. Did the applicant actually attend the institution or obtain a degree or certificate of completion in the discipline they claim?
Undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate, technical, business and trade schools are contacted directly by our staff of experienced research specialists.
Is the applicant a licensed and or a certified professional in their field? Are their licenses and certifications current, expired, suspended or ever been revoked? Do they possess the license or certification that you require? Oftentimes, applicants tend to assert that they are licensed and or certified, because they simply possess a working knowledge or prior experience in a particular profession.
Information from previous employers can be a valuable tool in determining an applicant’s past work history. Previous employers are contacted directly by our staff of experienced research specialists to verify work history to include date of hire, termination, job position held, title, and eligibility for re-hire.
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