Choosing a background check company is one of the most important decisions you will make when hiring. Choosing a reliable partner will make your hiring process seamless, saving you time and money. A good background screening provider will take all the necessary steps to ensure accurate, legally reportable data is provided. This helps minimize the risk of reinvestigation and corrections from applicants, which can add to your business’s time and expense.
Accuracy
A background check company that offers reliable, accurate results is crucial to your screening process. It would be a disaster to find out that someone you hired has a criminal history that didn’t match their application or that they were flagged for something wrong. Accuracy describes how close a measured or calculated value is to the actual value. This is important in many fields, including math and science. Precision, conversely, indicates how closely a series of measurements agree with each other. It also includes a component of random error, which causes differences between each measure. Accuracy and precision are essential in various professions, including statistics, the scientific method, engineering, and quality management. They are distinct, but they can be used interchangeably in everyday language.
Flexibility
A reliable background check company understands that a comprehensive search requires searching various databases. These can include criminal records, employment history information, and other public data scattered throughout different county, state, and federal repositories. Luckily, companies have connections to fetch updated records from local courthouses. This is a significant plus for employers who must check the records of individuals living in multiple counties. A good background screening company also offers flexible packages of services, ensuring that all your needs are met. This allows your business to get the services it needs without spending extra money on additional features that may not be necessary.
Transparency
Transparency is a crucial quality of a reliable background check company. Employers need to be able to verify a person’s background before hiring them, and it is also essential for landlords to know that a tenant has been checked out thoroughly before renting to them. Workplace transparency is a company culture that breeds trust, innovation, and job satisfaction. Whether sharing the company’s growth plans, talking about mistakes, or inviting questions, transparency can help a team connect and collaborate. A good background check company should be transparent, provide easy-to-understand information to their users, and alert them if their information changes. They should also be FCRA-compliant, which means they can gather consumer information like credit and employment histories in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Customer Service
A reliable background check company should be able to provide various services to its customers. Some of the more impressive offerings include email lookups, reverse phone search capabilities, and social media searches. While these might be essential functions, the company’s customer service determines its success or failure in the long run. The best of these reputable companies should have customer service representatives that are courteous, efficient, and knowledgeable. A good customer service department should be able to answer any question promptly and resolve the problem at hand. They should also be able to offer solutions to customers that are more unusual than your typical request.
Cost
One of the most common questions when evaluating background check companies is, “What is the cost?” Several factors contribute to a background check’s price, including the number of searches and their size. There are also costs related to obtaining access to criminal records and verifications. These fees are a significant consideration when budgeting for background checks and can be challenging to estimate. The more searches a background check requires, the higher the price. A thorough background check that includes a criminal record search, education, work history, and license or credential checking can be much more expensive than a simple single-factor search. However, it can provide far more information and peace of mind than a basic criminal record search alone. Ultimately, it comes down to the importance of the report to your company and hiring goals. Choosing a reliable background check company can help you make smart hiring decisions, all while keeping your costs within your budget.
