Self Background Checks

SUMMARY: Self background checks are catching on with many of today's beleaguere
d job hunters. By having a background check (also called an employment screening
report) run on yourself, you reassure potential employers your qualifications a
re genuine. At the same time, you reassure yourself that incorrect, damaging in
formation is not being reported on you to employers and others by background-che
ck companies.

The self background check is gradually catching on in the US as a strategy for p

rofessional-level jobseekers. It's seen as a way to gain an edge a small but so
metimes crucial edge in today's brutal job market.
So what's it all about? The idea is simply this. Before any employer will hire
you they will do an employment screening report, essentially a background inves
tigation, on you, in which you'll be checked for criminal records, bankruptcies,
judgments, tax liens, etc., and your college degree and past employment will be
verified.
With the self background report you offer the employer reassurance that, when th
ey conduct their background investigation on you, there will not any surprises.
It's as simple as that, and it works.
The employer wants to be sure you are who you say you are, you have no criminal
record (at least no felonies), you have the degree you claim, and you held the p
ositions you say you did. All that's pretty reasonable, especially since accord
ing to some studies as many as a third of white-collar applicants lie about thei
r qualifications on their resumes or job applications.
Doing a self background check, or as it's more often called, a self-check employ
ment screening report, can indeed reassure the employer that, if they decide to
hire you, there won't be any surprises when they check you out. (Most employers
use employment screening firms, such as HireRight.com, to handle all their back
ground checks; few do this work inhouse.)
This is not a small matter. If a company makes a candidate an offer, then has t
o retract it because something negative crops up in his/her employment screening
report, the company has wasted time and money, plus now has a potential lawsuit
on their hands for having taken an adverse action against a job candidate (such s
uits are not at all rare).
So let's say you're a hiring manager and you are considering two applicants equa
lly qualified for a job opening, one of which has included a self-check employme
nt screening report (self background check) along with his/her resume. Which wil
l you choose? Chances are, you'll lean toward the latter candidate. It's just
human nature to take the safer route.
But there's yet another important reason to have a self-background check done.
What if employment screening companies are reporting wrong information about you
? For example, what if they're reporting that you have a criminal record when y
ou don't? Or that you've been through a bankruptcy when you haven't?
Something like this can and does happen. And you'll probably never find out unl
ess you do a self-background check report on yourself.
So how do you go about getting one of these reports? Well, there are hundreds o
f background-investigation companies online clamoring for your business. You ca
n just pick one and pay the fee. However this is not the best idea because you'
re not really looking for a garden-variety background check. You're looking for
an employment screening report, one which comes from a reputable employment scr
eening company, which you can attach to your resume.
An employment screening report differs from a straight background check in sever
al ways, for example, the former contains verifications specifically, of your co
llege degree and of your past employment. Straight background checks don't cont
ain this type of information.
So you need to find a reputable employment screening company not just a backgrou
nd check company to do your report for you. This is a bit harder. Most employm
ent screening companies do not want to do self background check type employment
screening reports. They are set up to work for employers, not for jobseeking in
dividuals, and they like volume orders, not single orders. Most will turn down
your request for a self background check.
However there are a few smaller employment screening companies which will do you
r self background check for you some, of course, will do a better job than other
s.
Note that most of these companies will not send you a printed report. They will
send you a URL address and password with which to access your report online. T
hen, when you submit your resume, you can inform your potential employer you hav
e had a self background check done, and you can supply the URL and password or o
ffer to provide them upon request. Alternatively, you can simply print out the
background report and attach it to your resume. Personally, I would use the lat
ter method, simply because it's more likely to have an impact.
Background investigations, including self background checks, are part and parcel
of our new Internet-suffused society. You may not be aware of it, but the next
time you visit a CPA to have your taxes done, that CPA may run an Internet-gene
rated background check run on you before accepting you as a new client! So may
a lawyer you wish to hire, or even a Web design firm! Many companies and profes
sionals, large and small, now have background-check companies on retainer and wi
th a couple mouse clicks can check you out. Maybe it's time to consider getting
ahead of the curve by checking yourself out first to be certain the info that's
being disseminated about you is correct.

Washington Research Associates, Inc. is an employment-screening company focusing

on small business clients. We offer self-check employment screening to individ
uals, as well, through our site at E-EmploymentScreening.net. If you would like
to read more about self-check employment screening, visit us at http://WebSea
rchGuides.com/self-check_employment_screening.html. Or just send an email to Jos
eph@WashResearch.com.