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Are You About to Hire an
Employee That Could Cost You Thousands of Dollars?
Employers may deal
with hundreds of applicants when they advertise for an open position. Not
all of these applicants will be suited for the job, and even ones that
appear to be perfect may have something to hide. Here are some easy ways to
spot a possible problem employee before you hire them.
1. The applicant refuses to allow a background check. This should be your
number one warning sign that something may be wrong with your applicant’s
background. Someone without anything to hide will normally not mind you
running this type of check, particularly if they are interested in getting
the job. If you are not currently running background checks on prospective
employees, this is the best time to begin doing so to ensure that your
screening process will be more complete.
2. The applicant “forgets” to sign the application. In order to run a
background and/or credit check on an applicant, you will need to have their
signature on the application to permit you to run this search. If you come
across an applicant that either refuses to sign, or claims that they forgot
to sign the form, but doesn’t come back in to sign the form, this is a very
good sign that something may be amiss. Many people are under the impression
that a company really won’t run a background check, or that avoiding signing
a form is an easy way to make sure they can’t run the check.
3. The applicant provides you with false or incomplete information on past
employers. If you are not currently taking the time to check the references
on your applicants, you need to start doing so right away. When you do check
on references, this will give you a better idea of your applicant’s past
employment history. However, if you are noticing that one or more of the
telephone numbers, names or information is incorrect, this should be a
warning flag. Try to find the company on your own and if you cannot, you
should proceed with extreme caution.
4. The applicant refuses to give reasons for gaps in employment. Employment
gaps can signify a problem employee or someone that got into serious problem
with a past employer. If you find that there are several gaps in your
applicant’s employment and they refuse to provide you with reasons why, or
if their reasons do not make sense, this is yet another warning sign. You
may be able to find more information when running a background check that
will help you fill in these gaps, but you may be surprised at the results.
5. The applicant doesn’t fill in the section of the application on criminal
questions. This is similar to applicant’s that refuse to sign the
application. They may omit any criminal information in the hope that you
won’t do a check. The only sure way to know if a prospective employee has a
criminal record is to run a background check that will provide you with a
third party’s response, and not the word of the applicant. A nationwide
search is recommended if your applicant appears to have lived in several
states, or if they have omitted any of the information that we have included
on this warning list.
Back to Background Check Overview
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