The Source - Background Screening On The Internet - Users Beware
Cyberspace has recently become the latest fashionable recruiting, monitoring and hiring tool for many HR professionals. The Internet, search engines and particularly social sites are being used more than ever to obtain information on prospective and current employees. These days the Internet has grown into a no-mans land of unregulated and unsubstantiated data. HR professionals need to realize that relying solely on any data found on the Internet for screening, hiring or disciplinary purposes without verifying the validity of it could seriously put their firm on a dangerous path surrounded by fraud and headed towards discrimination and costly litigation.
With the broad flexibility and freedom that the Internet provides, everyone has the capability to post almost anything to the Web. Now, whether the materials are based on fact or fiction is the issue that should cause concern with all HR professionals. If a job seeker wanted to create a website and post a padded resume, claim certain educational accolades or even produce a white paper claiming to be a subject matter expert, they could easily do so. And, it will most likely be picked up by any search engine. Even yet, it would be easier for someone to post their fraudulent claims on an unregulated social site, as the information would never being questioned.
Let EBI help you determine fact or fiction! Our Education, Employment and Licensing verification solutions will easily uncover any fraudulent information on a candidates resume or job application.
The existence of common names coupled with the lack of additional identifiers to positively ID your candidate is another one of the pitfalls of solely using the Internet to conduct candidate research and screening. Without due diligence research and a professional background investigation that utilizes additional identifiers such as date of birth, social security number and current address, you are taking a gamble on really knowing your prospects true identity and background.
EBI's Social Security Number Trace and other robust identification packages will alleviate any fears that the person you are recruiting is really the qualified candidate you are looking to hire.
Anyone associated with the hiring process needs to understand that most, if not all, candidate screening must follow strict federal and state guidelines and therefore screening your candidates through search engines, social sites or other unproven Internet portals is just not advisable.
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All information contained herein is provided by Employment Background Investigations solely for the convenience of its clients. EBI is not providing legal advice or counsel and nothing provided on this document should be deemed as legal guidance or advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel to determine their legal responsibilities or if they have questions on any information provided by EBI.