In this world, finding a job or moving up company levels is not easily achieved. You shall have to compete with quite a number of others to get the job you want, often. Companies themselves add to the hurdles with some of the qualifications they set.
When seeking new personnel, employers do quite a bit of investigation. Hiring someone is basically an investment, and as with all investments, requires the investor to do careful research. One of the ways they gather information is by conducting background checks on people.
This is more or less a standard operation now, so you should not be surprised if a potential employer does it to you. There are certain posts that are extremely sensitive to the characters of those filling them, after all. These positions are responsible for the lives of individuals and not just the resources of their employers.
There are several reasons why companies need to conduct background checks. Different parties benefit from it, not just the employer. First, companies do it to minimize the chances of a customer lawsuit.
Today's clients have a lot of power. They can make claims and file legal actions against businesses whenever they feel slighted, mistreated, taken advantage of, or handled improperly. Employment background checks are therefore important to today's companies.
Employers try to avoid negligent hiring lawsuits since they could be costly. Such legal issues, when publicized, may also become downers for the business's performance. Hiring the wrong person is always a liability.
Background checks are also necessary for posts where those not of age yet may be concerned. It is our obligation as adults to see to it that juveniles are not harmed. Jobs that involve the care, welfare and protection of children are under the watchful eyes of the law, and these job positions include teachers, day care employees, the clergy, coaches, and scout troop leaders, to name a few.
Other than the children, the law also protects the elderly and disabled. These are vulnerable to all sorts of harm. State laws require professionals handling the elderly and disabled to undergo background checks.
And of course, background checks are obligatory to prevent falsified applications from getting in. It is not uncommon to get an applicant who claims better credentials than he actually has. This is why companies find it worthwhile to look into the facts first before hiring someone.
There are so many competitors for every job now. Fortunately for corporations, they have modern tools and devices to help them study the backgrounds of their many applicants. These days, employment background checks have become the norm more than the exception. In some companies, they require employee background checks on their employees characters. For more information, see my latest post.
